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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. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  2. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. The tickets are free of ________________.
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  15. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  16. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. When was this ________________ built?
  19. The ________________ took off on time.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. Have you found your soul ________________?
  23. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  24. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. mate — a friend
  3. swing — in golf
  4. clip — for paper
  5. cold — not warm
  6. spell — letters
  7. swing — to play on
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. clip — a video
  10. plane — in geometry
  11. spell — a short time
  12. charge — a price
  13. swing — music
  14. temple — side of the head
  15. charge — electricity
  16. plane — a tool
  17. clip — to cut
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. plane — an aircraft
  20. cold — an illness
  21. spell — magic
  22. mate — a partner
  23. charge — in control
  24. mate — to breed

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