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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 · key · row · temple · present · court · vault · spring

  1. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. When was this ________________ built?
  4. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. This piece is in a major ________________.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  13. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  14. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. spring — a coil
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. key — the most important part
  5. spring — of water
  6. spring — the season
  7. court — of law
  8. key — in music
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. row — a line
  11. shower — to wash
  12. vault — in gymnastics
  13. vault — a safe
  14. key — for a lock
  15. present — a gift
  16. court — of a king
  17. present — the time now
  18. shower — rain
  19. court — for sport
  20. temple — side of the head
  21. row — to paddle
  22. vault — an arched ceiling
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. present — there

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