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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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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 · trunk · last · sharp · saw · wound · drill · club

  1. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  2. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  3. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  14. When was this ________________ built?
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — a group
  2. trunk — of a tree
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. club — for golf
  5. last — final
  6. last — to go on
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. wound — an injury
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. last — finally
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. temple — side of the head
  14. temple — a place of worship
  15. drill — a practice
  16. club — for dancing
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. sharp — clever
  19. drill — the tool
  20. wound — an injury
  21. drill — army training
  22. saw — the tool
  23. saw — the tool
  24. sharp — exactly

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