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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: bear · temple · tear · clip · bulb · lean · date · land

  1. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  2. Have you settled on a ________________?
  3. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. When was this ________________ built?
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  9. I've got to change the light ________________.
  10. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. The light ________________ burned out.
  20. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  21. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. A black ________________ roamed the forest.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. bear — to put up with
  4. land — a country
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. lean — to bend
  8. lean — thin
  9. bulb — for light
  10. date — the fruit
  11. clip — for paper
  12. clip — to cut
  13. bear — the animal
  14. clip — a video
  15. temple — side of the head
  16. tear — from crying
  17. tear — from crying
  18. tear — to rip
  19. bulb — for light
  20. bulb — of a plant
  21. lean — to rest against
  22. land — to come down
  23. land — ground
  24. bear — the animal

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