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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  3. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  12. When was this ________________ built?
  13. My father caught me by the ________________.
  14. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  15. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. temple — side of the head
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. wound — an injury
  5. wound — an injury
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. arm — a part of something
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. shower — rain
  10. shower — to wash
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. bank — of a river
  15. kick — a thrill
  16. kick — in football
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. bank — for money
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. clip — to cut
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. bank — for money
  23. clip — a video
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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