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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: craft · shower · wake · last · cap · fan · pound · temple

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  3. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  12. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. When was this ________________ built?
  21. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  22. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  23. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  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. shower — to wash
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. temple — side of the head
  4. last — finally
  5. pound — for dogs
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. pound — a weight
  8. wake — a trail
  9. cap — a hat
  10. last — to go on
  11. craft — boats
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. shower — rain
  15. last — final
  16. cap — of ice
  17. cap — a lid
  18. craft — a skill
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. craft — a handicraft
  22. pound — to hit hard
  23. wake — before a funeral
  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