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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. When was this ________________ built?
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  10. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  13. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  14. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  15. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  23. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. fine — all right
  5. clip — to cut
  6. ball — a dance
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. clip — a video
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. fine — a penalty
  11. spring — the season
  12. temple — side of the head
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. lie — to recline
  16. field — for sport
  17. field — a subject
  18. clip — for paper
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. field — farmland
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. fine — high quality
  23. ball — a great time
  24. spring — of water

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