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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: temple · pop · clip · drill · perch · ground · bat · season

  1. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  6. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. When was this ________________ built?
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. pop — soda
  4. season — of the year
  5. pop — music
  6. temple — a place of worship
  7. drill — a practice
  8. clip — a video
  9. bat — the animal
  10. season — in sport
  11. perch — the fish
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. ground — a position
  14. temple — side of the head
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. drill — army training
  17. ground — the earth
  18. clip — to cut
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. ground — crushed
  22. clip — for paper
  23. drill — the tool
  24. perch — for a bird

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