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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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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: clip · kick · march · present · file · temple

  1. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  14. When was this ________________ built?
  15. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. present — there
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. march — music
  5. file — a tool
  6. clip — to cut
  7. temple — side of the head
  8. march — the month
  9. clip — for paper
  10. clip — a video
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. present — the time now
  13. present — a gift
  14. temple — a place of worship
  15. kick — a thrill
  16. kick — in football
  17. file — a document
  18. file — a line of people

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