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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 · cell · face · mate · roll · court · land · shower

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  11. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. We're on a ________________ here.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. When was this ________________ built?
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. Have you found your soul ________________?
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. court — for sport
  3. temple — side of the head
  4. land — to come down
  5. shower — rain
  6. face — to point toward
  7. mate — to breed
  8. roll — a cake
  9. cell — a phone
  10. roll — a list
  11. temple — a place of worship
  12. cell — in biology
  13. roll — on a roll
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. court — of law
  16. shower — to wash
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. face — part of the head
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. face — to confront
  21. mate — a partner
  22. land — a country
  23. court — of a king
  24. mate — a friend

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