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

Word bank: kick · wind · cap · march · trunk · temple

  1. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. When was this ________________ built?
  14. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. march — the month
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. march — the month
  5. cap — a hat
  6. wind — moving air
  7. cap — a lid
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. kick — in football
  12. wind — moving air
  13. temple — a place of worship
  14. temple — side of the head
  15. cap — of ice
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. march — music
  18. trunk — of a tree

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