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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. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. When was this ________________ built?
  5. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  12. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — side of the head
  2. clip — a video
  3. land — ground
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. safe — a strongbox
  6. degree — an amount
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. safe — out of danger
  9. land — a country
  10. land — to come down
  11. pit — a hole
  12. pit — in a race
  13. last — final
  14. degree — from a university
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. degree — temperature
  17. swing — in golf
  18. clip — to cut
  19. safe — out of danger
  20. swing — to play on
  21. clip — for paper
  22. last — to go on
  23. swing — music
  24. last — finally

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