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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: cell · bound · temple · fork · tear · spring

  1. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  3. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. That was ________________ to happen.
  18. When was this ________________ built?

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. bound — tied together
  4. spring — of water
  5. tear — from crying
  6. bound — obliged
  7. spring — the season
  8. cell — in biology
  9. tear — to rip
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. temple — side of the head
  13. spring — a coil
  14. tear — from crying
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. fork — in a road
  17. bound — certain
  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