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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. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. When will it ________________ you to start?
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  14. When was this ________________ built?
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. prune — to trim
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. drill — the tool
  6. hand — in cards
  7. suit — in cards
  8. chest — of your body
  9. suit — to fit
  10. wake — a trail
  11. suit — clothes
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. temple — side of the head
  14. temple — a place of worship
  15. drill — a practice
  16. chest — a box
  17. hand — help
  18. prune — to trim
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. clip — to cut
  21. clip — for paper
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. clip — a video
  24. drill — army training

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