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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  4. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  11. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  14. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. When was this ________________ built?
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  23. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. wind — moving air
  3. staff — a stick
  4. temple — side of the head
  5. mine — for digging
  6. clip — for paper
  7. last — final
  8. staff — employees
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. present — the time now
  11. root — the cause
  12. last — finally
  13. staff — employees
  14. root — of a word
  15. clip — a video
  16. temple — a place of worship
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. present — a gift
  19. wind — moving air
  20. present — there
  21. clip — to cut
  22. root — of a plant
  23. temple — a place of worship
  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