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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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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: temple · charge · chest · cell · shower · pit · wake · bark

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  6. The tickets are free of ________________.
  7. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  16. When was this ________________ built?
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. wake — a trail
  4. cell — a phone
  5. charge — in control
  6. charge — a price
  7. pit — a hole
  8. chest — of your body
  9. temple — side of the head
  10. chest — of your body
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. pit — a fruit stone
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. charge — electricity
  16. temple — a place of worship
  17. bark — to shout
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. temple — a place of worship
  20. cell — in biology
  21. chest — a box
  22. pit — in a race
  23. shower — rain
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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