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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: pound · date · fork · lash · clip · march · charge · temple

  1. When was this ________________ built?
  2. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  11. The tickets are free of ________________.
  12. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  18. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  19. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  22. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  23. Have you settled on a ________________?
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. charge — electricity
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. pound — a weight
  6. march — music
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. date — the fruit
  9. clip — to cut
  10. pound — for dogs
  11. charge — a price
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. clip — a video
  14. lash — a whip stroke
  15. march — the month
  16. clip — for paper
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. charge — in control
  19. lash — to lash out
  20. fork — in a road
  21. lash — an eyelash
  22. temple — side of the head
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. march — the month

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