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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: cold · capital · shower · craft · chest · temple

  1. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  12. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  18. When was this ________________ built?

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

Answer key

  1. craft — a handicraft
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. shower — to wash
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. cold — not warm
  6. cold — an illness
  7. craft — a skill
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. chest — of your body
  10. chest — a box
  11. craft — boats
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. shower — rain
  14. capital — a city
  15. chest — of your body
  16. capital — money
  17. temple — side of the head
  18. temple — a place of worship

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