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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. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. Where did you ________________ them?
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. When was this ________________ built?
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. I'll be taking the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. cell — in biology
  3. squash — to crush
  4. swing — music
  5. cell — a phone
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. mug — a cup
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. mug — to rob
  10. clip — a video
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. mug — a face
  13. tube — a container
  14. temple — a place of worship
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. clip — to cut
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. squash — the sport
  19. clip — for paper
  20. temple — side of the head
  21. swing — in golf
  22. kick — in football
  23. swing — to play on
  24. tube — the underground

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