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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: cold · temple · shower · chest · pass · pound · bowl · stand

  1. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  8. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  11. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  12. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  13. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  14. When was this ________________ built?
  15. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. I can't ________________ this cold.
  22. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  23. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a football final
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. shower — rain
  5. chest — a box
  6. shower — to wash
  7. pound — a weight
  8. pass — to succeed
  9. chest — of your body
  10. bowl — to roll
  11. temple — a place of worship
  12. pass — to spend time
  13. stand — for spectators
  14. temple — a place of worship
  15. bowl — a dish
  16. cold — not warm
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. temple — side of the head
  20. cold — an illness
  21. stand — to bear
  22. stand — on your feet
  23. pass — a permit
  24. chest — of your body

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