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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: wave · bass · spring · last · hand · temple · scale · shower

  1. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  2. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. When was this ________________ built?
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  11. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  15. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the fish
  2. temple — side of the head
  3. last — to go on
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. hand — help
  6. spring — the season
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. last — final
  9. shower — rain
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. wave — a sudden rise
  12. shower — to wash
  13. scale — size or range
  14. bass — low music
  15. wave — of the sea
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. hand — in cards
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. spring — a coil
  21. spring — of water
  22. scale — in music
  23. last — finally
  24. wave — with your hand

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