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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: fan · swing · clip · cue · temple · race · band · chest

  1. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  9. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  10. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. When was this ________________ built?
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — side of the head
  2. band — a ring
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. chest — of your body
  7. chest — of your body
  8. fan — to cool the air
  9. cue — for pool
  10. cue — a hint
  11. race — the arms race
  12. swing — music
  13. band — a music group
  14. clip — a video
  15. race — humankind
  16. cue — a signal
  17. swing — to play on
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. chest — a box
  20. swing — in golf
  21. race — a contest
  22. temple — a place of worship
  23. clip — for paper
  24. clip — to cut

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