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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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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: march · row · present · sharp · temple · cell · rule · trunk

  1. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. When was this ________________ built?
  4. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  21. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  22. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  23. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. cell — in biology
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. rule — government
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. temple — a place of worship
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. present — there
  10. present — a gift
  11. row — a line
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. sharp — clever
  14. march — the month
  15. march — the month
  16. cell — a phone
  17. present — the time now
  18. march — music
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. temple — side of the head
  21. rule — a law
  22. trunk — of a car
  23. rule — to rule out
  24. row — to paddle

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