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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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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: face · content · net · temple · perch · clip · chest · pit

  1. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  10. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  11. When was this ________________ built?
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. face — part of the head
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. temple — side of the head
  5. content — the amount
  6. face — to point toward
  7. pit — a hole
  8. clip — for paper
  9. pit — a fruit stone
  10. pit — in a race
  11. temple — a place of worship
  12. content — happy
  13. net — after costs
  14. chest — of your body
  15. chest — a box
  16. clip — a video
  17. clip — to cut
  18. net — for catching
  19. face — to confront
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. chest — of your body
  22. net — in sport
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. perch — the fish

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