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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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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: rash · temple · bass · bat · wave · shower · hand · season

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. When was this ________________ built?
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  22. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. bass — low music
  4. rash — a series
  5. hand — in cards
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. bass — the fish
  8. rash — hasty
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. hand — help
  13. wave — a sudden rise
  14. season — in sport
  15. bat — the animal
  16. temple — a place of worship
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. season — of the year
  20. shower — rain
  21. wave — with your hand
  22. wave — of the sea
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. temple — side of the head

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