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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. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  2. When was this ________________ built?
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  6. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  20. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  21. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. file — a line of people
  4. capital — money
  5. mark — a trace
  6. mark — a grade
  7. file — a document
  8. capital — a city
  9. clip — for paper
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. ball — a dance
  12. ball — a great time
  13. file — a tool
  14. racket — a loud noise
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. clip — to cut
  17. temple — side of the head
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. mark — to pay attention
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. kick — in football
  23. kick — with a leg
  24. clip — a video

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