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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 · dip · face · calf · net · temple · cold · pit

  1. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  4. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  9. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  16. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  17. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  18. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. When was this ________________ built?

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. face — to point toward
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. net — after costs
  6. face — to confront
  7. shower — to wash
  8. calf — of the leg
  9. dip — to sink
  10. shower — rain
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. dip — a sauce
  14. cold — an illness
  15. temple — side of the head
  16. pit — in a race
  17. pit — a fruit stone
  18. dip — to dunk
  19. face — part of the head
  20. cold — not warm
  21. pit — a hole
  22. net — in sport
  23. cold — the Cold War
  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