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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: lie · pit · leaves · clip · cold · content · temple · trunk

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  5. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  6. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. When was this ________________ built?
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  11. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  12. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  13. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  14. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  19. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. content — the amount
  3. clip — for paper
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. trunk — of a tree
  6. pit — in a race
  7. cold — not warm
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. leaves — of a tree
  11. pit — a hole
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. leaves — to go away
  14. temple — side of the head
  15. content — happy
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. clip — a video
  18. leaves — lets stay
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. lie — to recline
  22. clip — to cut
  23. cold — an illness
  24. pit — a fruit stone

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