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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. When was this ________________ built?
  3. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  6. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  7. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  23. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. lean — thin
  4. last — finally
  5. lean — to rest against
  6. chip — in a computer
  7. temple — side of the head
  8. clip — for paper
  9. court — for sport
  10. court — of a king
  11. last — final
  12. tube — a container
  13. lean — to bend
  14. tube — the underground
  15. land — a country
  16. court — of law
  17. clip — a video
  18. land — to come down
  19. land — ground
  20. clip — to cut
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. chip — to eat
  23. chip — for betting
  24. last — to go on

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