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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: clip · court · mate · temple · chair · wind · fine · squash

  1. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  3. When was this ________________ built?
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. fine — a penalty
  6. squash — the sport
  7. mate — to breed
  8. mate — a friend
  9. wind — moving air
  10. court — of law
  11. clip — for paper
  12. chair — a leader
  13. fine — all right
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. temple — side of the head
  16. clip — to cut
  17. clip — a video
  18. court — for sport
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. fine — high quality
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. wind — moving air
  23. squash — to crush
  24. court — of a king

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