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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: spring · temple · trunk · plane · mine · foot · roll · last

  1. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  2. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. When was this ________________ built?
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  11. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  17. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  20. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  21. We're on a ________________ here.
  22. The ________________ took off on time.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. I have a corn on my right ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. plane — in geometry
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. last — finally
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. spring — a coil
  9. mine — for digging
  10. foot — the bottom
  11. roll — a cake
  12. last — final
  13. spring — the season
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. last — to go on
  16. foot — a measure
  17. plane — a tool
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. roll — a list
  20. temple — side of the head
  21. roll — on a roll
  22. plane — an aircraft
  23. spring — of water
  24. foot — part of the body

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