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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. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  2. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. When was this ________________ built?
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. rest — what's left
  3. kid — child
  4. board — a flat piece
  5. kid — to tease
  6. rest — what's left
  7. clip — a video
  8. board — a committee
  9. game — wild animals
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. rest — a break
  12. hand — in cards
  13. clip — to cut
  14. board — to get on
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. clip — for paper
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. hand — help
  19. temple — a place of worship
  20. game — a match
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. temple — side of the head
  23. scale — in music
  24. scale — size or range

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