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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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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: tear · coach · shower · cue · chest · band · kick · temple

  1. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. When was this ________________ built?
  3. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  4. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. Have you met the new head ________________?
  18. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. cue — a hint
  4. temple — side of the head
  5. shower — to wash
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. band — a music group
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. band — a ring
  10. tear — to rip
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. shower — rain
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. chest — of your body
  16. chest — a box
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. cue — for pool
  19. chest — of your body
  20. kick — in football
  21. tear — from crying
  22. cue — a signal
  23. tear — from crying
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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