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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: clip · wind · lie · rest · cue · temple · stem · track

  1. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  4. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  5. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  9. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. When was this ________________ built?
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  16. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  17. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  18. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  19. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. track — a path
  4. track — to keep track
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. clip — for paper
  7. wind — moving air
  8. cue — a signal
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. rest — a break
  11. clip — a video
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. clip — to cut
  14. rest — what's left
  15. temple — side of the head
  16. lie — to recline
  17. cue — for pool
  18. rest — what's left
  19. cue — a hint
  20. wind — moving air
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. track — a song
  24. stem — to come from

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