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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 120 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: last · prune · chest · shower · court · temple · wind · mark

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. When was this ________________ built?
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  16. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  17. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. last — finally
  4. last — final
  5. wind — moving air
  6. temple — a place of worship
  7. wind — moving air
  8. court — for sport
  9. shower — rain
  10. prune — to trim
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. chest — a box
  14. court — of law
  15. mark — to pay attention
  16. mark — a trace
  17. mark — a grade
  18. court — of a king
  19. temple — side of the head
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. last — to go on
  22. shower — to wash
  23. chest — of your body
  24. prune — to trim

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