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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. When was this ________________ built?
  3. What do you think of the new ________________?
  4. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  12. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  22. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  23. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. pit — in a race
  5. cold — not warm
  6. pit — a fruit stone
  7. chest — of your body
  8. chest — of your body
  9. staff — employees
  10. cold — an illness
  11. pit — a hole
  12. staff — employees
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. temple — a place of worship
  15. land — ground
  16. chest — a box
  17. cabinet — a cupboard
  18. clip — a video
  19. land — a country
  20. clip — for paper
  21. staff — a stick
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. temple — side of the head
  24. land — to come down

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