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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 · fork · cell · pop · bank · degree

  1. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  7. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  8. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  9. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. When was this ________________ built?
  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. bank — for money
  2. pop — to visit
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. pop — music
  5. cell — a phone
  6. temple — a place of worship
  7. bank — for money
  8. temple — side of the head
  9. bank — of a river
  10. cell — in biology
  11. degree — an amount
  12. pop — soda
  13. fork — in a road
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. degree — temperature
  16. degree — from a university
  17. temple — a place of worship
  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