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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. When was this ________________ built?
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. What do you think of the new ________________?
  10. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  18. The tickets are free of ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. Where can I ________________ my mobile?

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. wind — moving air
  5. temple — side of the head
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. wound — an injury
  8. clip — a video
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. cabinet — a cupboard
  13. clip — to cut
  14. stock — goods
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. wound — an injury
  17. charge — in control
  18. charge — a price
  19. clip — for paper
  20. stock — shares
  21. prune — to trim
  22. prune — to trim
  23. wind — moving air
  24. charge — electricity

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