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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: temple · chest · roll · hide · cue · fork · clip · ball

  1. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  3. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  4. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  5. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. We're on a ________________ here.
  10. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  11. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  12. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. When was this ________________ built?
  20. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  21. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  22. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  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. fork — a garden tool
  2. cue — a signal
  3. cue — a hint
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. roll — a list
  6. ball — a dance
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. chest — of your body
  9. roll — on a roll
  10. temple — side of the head
  11. cue — for pool
  12. ball — a great time
  13. clip — for paper
  14. ball — a round shape
  15. chest — of your body
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. fork — in a road
  18. chest — a box
  19. temple — a place of worship
  20. roll — a cake
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. hide — animal skin
  23. clip — a video
  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