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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 120 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  7. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. This piece is in a major ________________.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  18. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. When was this ________________ built?
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. spring — a coil
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. shower — rain
  6. key — the most important part
  7. temple — side of the head
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. key — for a lock
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. key — in music
  12. spring — of water
  13. wind — moving air
  14. bear — the animal
  15. wind — moving air
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. bear — the animal
  18. bear — to put up with
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. band — a ring
  22. spring — the season
  23. temple — a place of worship
  24. band — a music group

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