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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 · bound · temple · mate · stand · season · chest · drill

  1. When was this ________________ built?
  2. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  11. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. Did you ________________ the meat?
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. I can't ________________ this cold.
  21. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. mate — a friend
  3. bound — tied together
  4. chest — of your body
  5. drill — a practice
  6. temple — a place of worship
  7. spring — of water
  8. spring — a coil
  9. spring — the season
  10. season — of the year
  11. temple — side of the head
  12. mate — a partner
  13. season — to add flavour
  14. bound — obliged
  15. mate — to breed
  16. drill — the tool
  17. chest — a box
  18. stand — for spectators
  19. chest — of your body
  20. stand — to bear
  21. stand — on your feet
  22. bound — certain
  23. drill — army training
  24. season — in sport

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