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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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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: staff · clip · trunk · date · temple · hand · degree · nail

  1. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. The ________________ went through the wall.
  3. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  4. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. When was this ________________ built?
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  17. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  18. Have you settled on a ________________?
  19. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  20. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  23. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. nail — on a finger
  4. trunk — of a tree
  5. hand — help
  6. degree — an amount
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. clip — to cut
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. clip — a video
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. clip — for paper
  14. staff — a stick
  15. degree — from a university
  16. staff — employees
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. staff — employees
  20. date — the fruit
  21. hand — in cards
  22. temple — side of the head
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. degree — temperature

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