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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  4. When was this ________________ built?
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  10. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  11. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. The King held a masked ________________.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. clip — for paper
  3. cue — a hint
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. tube — the underground
  6. bear — to put up with
  7. wound — an injury
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. ball — a great time
  10. cue — for pool
  11. bear — the animal
  12. branch — a division
  13. tube — a container
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. ball — a dance
  16. clip — to cut
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. clip — a video
  20. cue — a signal
  21. wound — an injury
  22. temple — side of the head
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. bear — the animal

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