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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: cabinet · fan · bore · hand · snap · temple · wind · perch

  1. When was this ________________ built?
  2. What do you think of the new ________________?
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  19. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  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. temple — a place of worship
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. snap — to click
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. bore — gave birth
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. bore — to tire
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. hand — help
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. perch — the fish
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. cabinet — a cupboard
  19. bore — to drill
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. wind — moving air
  22. wind — moving air
  23. hand — in cards
  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