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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: last · cell · cap · temple · mine · staff · wax · clip

  1. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. When was this ________________ built?
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. The old man leaned on his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. last — finally
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. temple — side of the head
  7. cell — in biology
  8. cap — of ice
  9. clip — for paper
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. staff — employees
  12. cell — a phone
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. last — final
  15. cap — a lid
  16. clip — a video
  17. clip — to cut
  18. cap — a hat
  19. staff — employees
  20. wax — to grow
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. last — to go on
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. staff — a stick

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