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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: bound · plane · shower · temple · mate · field · ground · present

  1. There's no middle ________________.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  12. The ________________ took off on time.
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  19. That was ________________ to happen.
  20. When was this ________________ built?
  21. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  22. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  23. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. field — for sport
  3. plane — a tool
  4. mate — a partner
  5. field — farmland
  6. temple — a place of worship
  7. ground — crushed
  8. shower — rain
  9. bound — obliged
  10. ground — the earth
  11. plane — in geometry
  12. plane — an aircraft
  13. mate — to breed
  14. field — a subject
  15. bound — tied together
  16. present — the time now
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. present — there
  19. bound — certain
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. mate — a friend
  22. present — a gift
  23. temple — side of the head
  24. shower — to wash

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