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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. When was this ________________ built?
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  9. That must've been a ________________.
  10. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  13. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  17. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  18. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. clip — to cut
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. cold — not warm
  5. pass — to spend time
  6. snap — to click
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. jam — a tight spot
  9. rush — a thrill
  10. temple — side of the head
  11. clip — for paper
  12. rush — hurry
  13. rush — to hurry
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. cold — an illness
  16. pass — a permit
  17. jam — in traffic
  18. pass — to succeed
  19. wound — an injury
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. wound — an injury
  22. jam — to spread on bread
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. clip — a video

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