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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: shower · tear · stand · degree · temple · ground · bear · cue

  1. There's no middle ________________.
  2. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  3. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  4. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  7. When was this ________________ built?
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  13. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  14. I can't ________________ this cold.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  24. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. cue — a hint
  3. cue — a signal
  4. bear — the animal
  5. ground — the earth
  6. bear — the animal
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. tear — to rip
  9. shower — rain
  10. ground — crushed
  11. shower — to wash
  12. stand — on your feet
  13. temple — a place of worship
  14. stand — to bear
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. bear — to put up with
  17. tear — from crying
  18. degree — temperature
  19. tear — from crying
  20. temple — side of the head
  21. degree — from a university
  22. degree — an amount
  23. stand — for spectators
  24. cue — for pool

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