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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.

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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: safe · temple · lash · court · fork · clip · track · cold

  1. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  2. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  4. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  7. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  8. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. When was this ________________ built?
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — side of the head
  2. track — to keep track
  3. safe — out of danger
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. lash — an eyelash
  7. safe — out of danger
  8. safe — a strongbox
  9. court — of a king
  10. cold — not warm
  11. temple — a place of worship
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. clip — for paper
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. cold — an illness
  16. fork — in a road
  17. fork — a garden tool
  18. clip — to cut
  19. court — of law
  20. track — a path
  21. track — a song
  22. clip — a video
  23. court — for sport
  24. lash — to lash out

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