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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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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: pitcher · bore · temple · kid · last · stand · bowl · wound

  1. He is an ace ________________.
  2. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. When was this ________________ built?
  16. I can't ________________ this cold.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  21. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  22. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. last — final
  4. bowl — a dish
  5. kid — child
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. bore — to drill
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. last — finally
  10. temple — side of the head
  11. kid — to tease
  12. bowl — a football final
  13. last — to go on
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. stand — to bear
  17. wound — an injury
  18. wound — an injury
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. stand — for spectators
  21. bore — gave birth
  22. bore — to tire
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. stand — on your feet

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