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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 · tear · clip · temple · bulb · swing · rest · branch

  1. I've got to change the light ________________.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  10. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. When was this ________________ built?
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. The light ________________ burned out.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. tear — from crying
  3. clip — a video
  4. rest — a break
  5. branch — a division
  6. tear — to rip
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. clip — for paper
  9. temple — side of the head
  10. bulb — of a plant
  11. tear — from crying
  12. rest — what's left
  13. face — part of the head
  14. rest — what's left
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. face — to point toward
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. face — to confront
  20. swing — music
  21. swing — in golf
  22. bulb — for light
  23. clip — to cut
  24. swing — to play on

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