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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. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  14. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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 — side of the head
  3. band — a music group
  4. lash — a whip stroke
  5. field — a subject
  6. clip — to cut
  7. field — for sport
  8. clip — a video
  9. clip — for paper
  10. lash — an eyelash
  11. pop — soda
  12. ground — the earth
  13. lash — to lash out
  14. temple — a place of worship
  15. ground — crushed
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. scale — in music
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. band — a ring
  20. pop — to visit
  21. ground — a position
  22. scale — size or range
  23. pop — music
  24. field — farmland

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