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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
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: chair · clip · lie · temple · lean · trunk · bulb · mine

  1. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. The light ________________ burned out.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. I've got to change the light ________________.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  18. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  19. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  20. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. When was this ________________ built?
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. lean — to rest against
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. lie — to recline
  8. clip — for paper
  9. bulb — for light
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. clip — a video
  12. bulb — for light
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. chair — a leader
  16. mine — for digging
  17. lean — thin
  18. bulb — of a plant
  19. temple — side of the head
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. clip — to cut
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. temple — a place of worship
  24. trunk — of a tree

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