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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. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  2. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  12. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  16. When was this ________________ built?
  17. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  20. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  21. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  22. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — an agreement
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. bat — the animal
  4. land — ground
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. land — a country
  7. clip — for paper
  8. land — to come down
  9. bore — gave birth
  10. prune — to trim
  11. bore — to drill
  12. deal — a big deal
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. bank — for money
  16. temple — a place of worship
  17. bore — to tire
  18. clip — a video
  19. bank — of a river
  20. temple — side of the head
  21. deal — to handle
  22. bank — for money
  23. clip — to cut
  24. prune — to trim

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