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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: wound · temple · chest · cell · bank · rash · shower · board

  1. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  7. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  17. When was this ________________ built?
  18. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  19. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  20. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  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. temple — a place of worship
  2. chest — a box
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. chest — of your body
  5. cell — a phone
  6. board — a flat piece
  7. board — a committee
  8. shower — rain
  9. wound — an injury
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. chest — of your body
  12. cell — in biology
  13. shower — to wash
  14. board — to get on
  15. rash — hasty
  16. bank — for money
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. bank — for money
  19. bank — of a river
  20. temple — side of the head
  21. wound — an injury
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. rash — a series
  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