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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. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  2. When was this ________________ built?
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  18. Have you met the new head ________________?
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  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. row — to paddle
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. bound — certain
  6. clip — for paper
  7. hand — in cards
  8. bound — tied together
  9. bat — the animal
  10. hand — help
  11. mine — for digging
  12. temple — side of the head
  13. row — a line
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. bound — obliged
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. clip — to cut
  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