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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.

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: clip · can · temple · bark · hand · snap · spring · club

  1. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  2. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. When was this ________________ built?
  19. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  20. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. can — to be able to
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. snap — to click
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. spring — a coil
  7. club — a group
  8. clip — for paper
  9. bark — to shout
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. club — for golf
  12. can — a tin
  13. clip — a video
  14. can — a tin
  15. spring — the season
  16. hand — help
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. temple — side of the head
  20. club — for dancing
  21. hand — in cards
  22. clip — to cut
  23. spring — of water
  24. hand — part of the body

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