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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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. That was ________________ to happen.
  13. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. When was this ________________ built?
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. wake — a trail
  3. wound — an injury
  4. bound — tied together
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. clip — a video
  8. bound — obliged
  9. clip — for paper
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. bound — certain
  13. temple — a place of worship
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. land — to come down
  16. chair — a leader
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. land — ground
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. clip — to cut
  22. wound — an injury
  23. land — a country
  24. temple — side of the head

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