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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. When was this ________________ built?
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  10. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  14. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  15. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  16. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  17. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. spring — a coil
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. object — an aim
  5. spring — of water
  6. mark — to pay attention
  7. drill — the tool
  8. clip — a video
  9. temple — side of the head
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. content — the amount
  12. content — happy
  13. object — to protest
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. mark — a grade
  16. object — a thing
  17. mark — a trace
  18. clip — to cut
  19. spring — the season
  20. drill — army training
  21. racket — a loud noise
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. clip — for paper
  24. drill — a practice

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