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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: clip · bass · mate · deal · mine · wound · temple · straw

  1. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. When was this ________________ built?
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  9. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  15. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. Have you found your soul ________________?
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. mate — to breed
  3. mine — for digging
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. temple — a place of worship
  7. wound — an injury
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. deal — an agreement
  10. bass — low music
  11. mate — a friend
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. clip — a video
  14. deal — a big deal
  15. temple — side of the head
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. clip — to cut
  18. mate — a partner
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. deal — to handle
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. clip — for paper
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. bass — the fish

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