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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: cap · ball · content · stand · mine · bark · hand · temple

  1. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  2. When was this ________________ built?
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  11. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. I can't ________________ this cold.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. content — happy
  6. ball — a dance
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. content — the amount
  9. cap — of ice
  10. temple — side of the head
  11. stand — for spectators
  12. hand — help
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. ball — a round shape
  15. cap — a lid
  16. stand — on your feet
  17. mine — for digging
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. cap — a hat
  20. bark — to shout
  21. stand — to bear
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. ball — a great time
  24. hand — in cards

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