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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  3. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. When was this ________________ built?
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. Did you ________________ the meat?
  20. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. lean — to rest against
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. shower — to wash
  5. scale — size or range
  6. shower — rain
  7. lean — to bend
  8. clip — for paper
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. temple — a place of worship
  12. stem — to come from
  13. wound — an injury
  14. scale — in music
  15. season — of the year
  16. temple — side of the head
  17. season — in sport
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. season — to add flavour
  20. lean — thin
  21. clip — a video
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. wound — an injury
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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