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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: temple · charge · chest · cell · shower · pit

  1. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  10. When was this ________________ built?
  11. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. The tickets are free of ________________.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. shower — rain
  3. charge — electricity
  4. cell — a phone
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. pit — in a race
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. chest — of your body
  9. charge — in control
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. pit — a hole
  12. chest — of your body
  13. temple — side of the head
  14. chest — a box
  15. charge — a price
  16. shower — to wash
  17. cell — in biology
  18. cell — in a prison

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