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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: bowl · clip · race · shower · spring · kid · temple · bound

  1. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  8. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. That was ________________ to happen.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. When was this ________________ built?

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

Answer key

  1. temple — side of the head
  2. shower — to wash
  3. shower — rain
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. spring — the season
  6. clip — to cut
  7. bound — obliged
  8. bound — tied together
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. kid — child
  12. bound — certain
  13. race — the arms race
  14. kid — to tease
  15. spring — a coil
  16. bowl — a football final
  17. clip — a video
  18. race — humankind
  19. bowl — a dish
  20. clip — for paper
  21. race — a contest
  22. bowl — to roll
  23. spring — of water
  24. temple — a place of worship

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