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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. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  10. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. track — a path
  3. band — a ring
  4. kid — to tease
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. kid — child
  8. track — a song
  9. temple — side of the head
  10. track — to keep track
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. band — a music group
  13. clip — a video
  14. craft — a skill
  15. ground — crushed
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. clip — for paper
  18. clip — to cut
  19. temple — a place of worship
  20. ground — a position
  21. craft — a handicraft
  22. ground — the earth
  23. craft — boats
  24. band — a rubber band

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