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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: shower · ball · rash · temple · band · season · cell · object

  1. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  5. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  19. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. When was this ________________ built?
  24. Did you ________________ the meat?

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. band — a music group
  3. cell — a phone
  4. object — an aim
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. season — in sport
  7. cell — in biology
  8. temple — side of the head
  9. rash — hasty
  10. shower — to wash
  11. ball — a dance
  12. band — a ring
  13. season — of the year
  14. ball — a round shape
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. rash — a series
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. object — a thing
  19. ball — a great time
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. shower — rain
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. temple — a place of worship
  24. season — to add flavour

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