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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 120 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 · rash · temple · chest · racket · bark · shower · pop

  1. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  11. When was this ________________ built?
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  15. You don't need to ________________ round.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. Don't do anything ________________.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  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. land — a country
  2. pop — soda
  3. shower — rain
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. rash — a series
  9. land — ground
  10. racket — a loud noise
  11. temple — a place of worship
  12. chest — a box
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. temple — side of the head
  15. pop — to visit
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. bark — to shout
  18. land — to come down
  19. rash — hasty
  20. chest — of your body
  21. shower — to wash
  22. pop — music
  23. racket — for tennis
  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