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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: ball · file · field · straw · shower · band · fan · temple

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. When was this ________________ built?
  3. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  13. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  14. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. The King held a masked ________________.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. ball — a round shape
  4. band — a music group
  5. band — a ring
  6. temple — a place of worship
  7. shower — rain
  8. field — for sport
  9. file — a line of people
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. field — a subject
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. ball — a great time
  15. file — a tool
  16. ball — a dance
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. file — a document
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. temple — side of the head
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. shower — to wash

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