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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. When was this ________________ built?
  2. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  10. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  16. The ________________ went through the wall.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  21. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. net — after costs
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. clip — a video
  6. club — for dancing
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. kick — in football
  9. lean — thin
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. net — for catching
  12. clip — for paper
  13. race — the arms race
  14. race — a contest
  15. club — for golf
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. race — humankind
  18. lean — to rest against
  19. clip — to cut
  20. temple — side of the head
  21. kick — a thrill
  22. net — in sport
  23. club — a group
  24. lean — to bend

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