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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: temple · bay · bat · trunk · bass · shower · game · board

  1. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. When was this ________________ built?
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  10. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  15. My mare is ________________ in color.
  16. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  17. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  18. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. shower — to wash
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. bass — low music
  5. temple — side of the head
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. shower — rain
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. board — a committee
  10. board — a flat piece
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. bat — the animal
  14. bass — the instrument
  15. bay — a horse colour
  16. bay — a part of the sea
  17. bay — to keep at bay
  18. board — to get on
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. game — wild animals
  23. bass — the fish
  24. game — a match

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