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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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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: march · wind · hand · temple · clip · bound · pitcher · staff

  1. When was this ________________ built?
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. That was ________________ to happen.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. hand — in cards
  3. clip — to cut
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. hand — help
  6. temple — side of the head
  7. march — the month
  8. bound — certain
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. clip — for paper
  11. bound — obliged
  12. clip — a video
  13. staff — a stick
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. staff — employees
  16. march — the month
  17. march — music
  18. wind — moving air
  19. staff — employees
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. wind — moving air
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. bound — tied together
  24. hand — part of the body

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