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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: cold · object · clip · race · cap · temple · lie · trunk

  1. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  4. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  5. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. When was this ________________ built?
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  21. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. race — a contest
  3. cap — of ice
  4. object — an aim
  5. lie — to recline
  6. clip — to cut
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. cap — a lid
  10. cold — not warm
  11. object — a thing
  12. cap — a hat
  13. temple — a place of worship
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. cold — an illness
  17. object — to protest
  18. race — the arms race
  19. clip — for paper
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. temple — side of the head
  22. clip — a video
  23. trunk — of an elephant
  24. race — humankind

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