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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: shower · degree · present · stand · temple · kid

  1. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  13. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  14. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  15. I can't ________________ this cold.
  16. When was this ________________ built?
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. kid — child
  3. degree — an amount
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. degree — temperature
  6. degree — from a university
  7. kid — to tease
  8. present — the time now
  9. shower — to wash
  10. temple — side of the head
  11. shower — rain
  12. present — there
  13. stand — on your feet
  14. stand — for spectators
  15. stand — to bear
  16. temple — a place of worship
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  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