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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. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. When was this ________________ built?
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  20. That was ________________ to happen.
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  24. I assure you, everything's ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. temple — side of the head
  4. clip — for paper
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. bat — the animal
  7. clip — to cut
  8. bound — tied together
  9. squash — to crush
  10. bound — obliged
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. fine — high quality
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. temple — a place of worship
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. fork — in a road
  17. clip — a video
  18. squash — the sport
  19. bass — low music
  20. bound — certain
  21. bass — the fish
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. fine — a penalty
  24. fine — all right

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