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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. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  2. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  3. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The King held a masked ________________.
  23. When was this ________________ built?
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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. ball — a round shape
  4. clip — a video
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. track — to keep track
  7. track — a path
  8. ball — a great time
  9. swing — in golf
  10. clip — for paper
  11. vault — an arched ceiling
  12. cold — not warm
  13. track — a song
  14. swing — music
  15. vault — in gymnastics
  16. swing — to play on
  17. clip — to cut
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. stock — goods
  20. vault — a safe
  21. cold — an illness
  22. ball — a dance
  23. temple — a place of worship
  24. stock — shares

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