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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: patient · shower · date · nail · kid · fork · temple · court

  1. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. Have you settled on a ________________?
  4. The ________________ went through the wall.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  7. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  24. When was this ________________ built?

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. court — of a king
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. patient — calm and waiting
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. fork — in a road
  11. temple — a place of worship
  12. court — of law
  13. kid — child
  14. nail — on a finger
  15. court — for sport
  16. date — the fruit
  17. shower — rain
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. shower — to wash
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. kid — to tease
  23. temple — side of the head
  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