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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. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  10. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  19. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  20. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  21. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  22. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  23. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  24. The old man leaned on his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. lean — thin
  3. rule — a law
  4. mouse — the animal
  5. stem — to come from
  6. chest — of your body
  7. clip — for paper
  8. chest — a box
  9. staff — employees
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. clip — to cut
  12. temple — side of the head
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. temple — a place of worship
  15. clip — a video
  16. chest — of your body
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. lean — to bend
  19. lean — to rest against
  20. rule — to rule out
  21. staff — employees
  22. rule — government
  23. mouse — for a computer
  24. staff — a stick

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