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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 120 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 · racket · bound · temple · degree · land · fan · net

  1. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. That was ________________ to happen.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. When was this ________________ built?
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  20. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — side of the head
  2. net — for catching
  3. bound — obliged
  4. land — ground
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. net — after costs
  7. shower — to wash
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. degree — temperature
  10. bound — tied together
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. bound — certain
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. racket — a loud noise
  15. degree — an amount
  16. land — to come down
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. shower — rain
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. degree — from a university
  22. land — a country
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. net — 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