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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: land · file · temple · content · shower · tube · degree · nail

  1. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. The ________________ went through the wall.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. When was this ________________ built?
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. land — a country
  5. tube — the underground
  6. degree — an amount
  7. content — happy
  8. land — to come down
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. tube — a container
  11. file — a document
  12. content — the amount
  13. degree — temperature
  14. degree — from a university
  15. land — ground
  16. temple — a place of worship
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. file — a line of people
  21. nail — on a finger
  22. file — a tool
  23. shower — to wash
  24. temple — side of the head

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