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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 120 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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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 · scale · bore · wake · band · clip · straw · bowl

  1. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  2. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  3. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  12. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  13. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. When was this ________________ built?
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. scale — in music
  3. bore — to drill
  4. clip — to cut
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. bowl — a dish
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. temple — side of the head
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. bore — gave birth
  12. bowl — to roll
  13. bore — to tire
  14. scale — size or range
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. wake — a trail
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. band — a music group
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. clip — for paper
  22. clip — a video
  23. bowl — a football final
  24. band — a ring

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