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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. I can't ________________ this cold.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  10. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  14. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  15. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. When was this ________________ built?
  20. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  21. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  22. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. stand — to bear
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. mine — for digging
  5. pound — for dogs
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. clip — for paper
  8. last — final
  9. temple — side of the head
  10. leaves — of a tree
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. last — to go on
  13. stand — on your feet
  14. leaves — lets stay
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. last — finally
  18. pound — a weight
  19. temple — a place of worship
  20. pound — to hit hard
  21. leaves — to go away
  22. stand — for spectators
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. clip — a video

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