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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 120 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. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  2. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  7. When was this ________________ built?
  8. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  11. That was ________________ to happen.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  18. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  19. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. The ________________ went through the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — obliged
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. clip — to cut
  4. clip — for paper
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. nail — on a finger
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. bound — tied together
  11. bound — certain
  12. clip — a video
  13. degree — temperature
  14. bat — the animal
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. degree — an amount
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. fan — to cool the air
  20. degree — from a university
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. temple — side of the head
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. nail — for a hammer

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