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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. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  5. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. When was this ________________ built?
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. cold — an illness
  3. capital — a city
  4. ruler — for measuring
  5. ruler — for measuring
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. rest — what's left
  11. clip — to cut
  12. wind — moving air
  13. rest — what's left
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. clip — for paper
  16. capital — money
  17. temple — side of the head
  18. cold — not warm
  19. clip — a video
  20. wind — moving air
  21. bat — the animal
  22. ruler — a monarch
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. temple — a place of worship

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