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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 · roll · temple · ground · last · patient · suit · bound

  1. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  2. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  10. That was ________________ to happen.
  11. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  12. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  13. When will it ________________ you to start?
  14. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  15. We're on a ________________ here.
  16. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  17. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  18. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. When was this ________________ built?
  21. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. bound — obliged
  3. last — finally
  4. shower — to wash
  5. ground — a position
  6. shower — rain
  7. ground — the earth
  8. ground — crushed
  9. suit — in cards
  10. bound — certain
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. roll — a list
  13. suit — to fit
  14. temple — side of the head
  15. roll — on a roll
  16. suit — clothes
  17. roll — a cake
  18. bound — tied together
  19. last — final
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. patient — calm and waiting
  22. last — to go on
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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