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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: sharp · current · temple · spring · bat · scale · clip · kick

  1. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. When was this ________________ built?
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  10. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. sharp — clever
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. current — electric
  8. spring — of water
  9. current — happening now
  10. temple — side of the head
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. clip — for paper
  13. current — of water
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. scale — in music
  17. bat — the animal
  18. kick — in football
  19. clip — to cut
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. scale — size or range
  22. spring — the season
  23. spring — a coil
  24. clip — a video

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