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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: shower · stem · temple · chest · pound · staff · march · prune

  1. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  7. When was this ________________ built?
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  18. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. chest — a box
  4. staff — employees
  5. shower — to wash
  6. pound — a weight
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. march — music
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. staff — a stick
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. temple — side of the head
  13. prune — to trim
  14. stem — to come from
  15. prune — to trim
  16. chest — of your body
  17. pound — for dogs
  18. staff — employees
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. chest — of your body
  22. march — the month
  23. shower — rain
  24. stem — of a plant

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