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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.

Make a worksheet

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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: temple · tear · clip · scale · chair · degree

  1. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. When was this ________________ built?
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. 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. tear — from crying
  3. degree — temperature
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. tear — from crying
  7. scale — size or range
  8. degree — from a university
  9. clip — for paper
  10. scale — in music
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. degree — an amount
  13. temple — side of the head
  14. tear — to rip
  15. clip — to cut
  16. chair — a leader
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. clip — a video

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