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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. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  3. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  4. When was this ________________ built?
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  8. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  12. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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. calf — a young animal
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. clip — to cut
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. file — a tool
  14. racket — a loud noise
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. clip — for paper
  18. file — a document
  19. clip — a video
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. file — a line of people
  22. sharp — clever
  23. calf — of the leg
  24. wax — to grow

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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