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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  9. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  10. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. last — final
  3. toast — bread
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. toast — a drink to someone
  6. last — to go on
  7. clip — a video
  8. toast — the most admired
  9. track — a path
  10. present — the time now
  11. present — there
  12. last — finally
  13. spring — the season
  14. clip — for paper
  15. temple — side of the head
  16. saw — the tool
  17. spring — a coil
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. saw — the tool
  20. spring — of water
  21. clip — to cut
  22. track — a song
  23. track — to keep track
  24. present — a gift

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