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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  4. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  5. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  20. When was this ________________ built?
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. land — a country
  3. wave — with your hand
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. pit — in a race
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. face — to confront
  8. wave — of the sea
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. pit — a hole
  11. clip — to cut
  12. wound — an injury
  13. perch — the fish
  14. pit — a fruit stone
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. clip — for paper
  17. temple — side of the head
  18. face — part of the head
  19. wave — a sudden rise
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. land — ground
  22. face — to point toward
  23. wound — an injury
  24. clip — a video

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