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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. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  6. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  7. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  8. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  9. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. Don't do anything ________________.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. When was this ________________ built?
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  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. staff — a stick
  2. clip — to cut
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. tear — from crying
  5. staff — employees
  6. staff — employees
  7. root — of a word
  8. temple — side of the head
  9. root — of a plant
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. kid — to tease
  12. tear — to rip
  13. chest — a box
  14. root — the cause
  15. chest — of your body
  16. kid — child
  17. tear — from crying
  18. clip — a video
  19. rash — hasty
  20. rash — a series
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. clip — for paper
  23. chest — of your body
  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