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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  2. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  15. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  16. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. When was this ________________ built?

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. bore — to tire
  3. ball — a dance
  4. clip — to cut
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. pop — music
  7. snap — to click
  8. chest — a box
  9. band — a ring
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. ball — a round shape
  12. pop — to visit
  13. clip — for paper
  14. bore — to drill
  15. temple — side of the head
  16. ball — a great time
  17. chest — of your body
  18. pop — soda
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. band — a music group
  21. chest — of your body
  22. bore — gave birth
  23. clip — a video
  24. temple — a place of worship

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com