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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 120 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. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. When was this ________________ built?
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. The ________________ took off on time.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. Have you met the new head ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. temple — side of the head
  2. stock — goods
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. swing — music
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. shower — to wash
  8. shower — rain
  9. swing — to play on
  10. plane — a tool
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. plane — an aircraft
  13. clip — to cut
  14. clip — for paper
  15. file — a tool
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. file — a line of people
  18. clip — a video
  19. stock — shares
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. file — a document
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. swing — in golf
  24. coach — a trainer

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