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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: hand · key · plane · shower · straw · temple · wake · ground

  1. The ________________ took off on time.
  2. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. This piece is in a major ________________.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. When was this ________________ built?
  11. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  16. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  17. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. plane — an aircraft
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. key — in music
  7. hand — help
  8. hand — in cards
  9. ground — crushed
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. key — for a lock
  12. wake — a trail
  13. ground — the earth
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. key — the most important part
  16. plane — in geometry
  17. plane — a tool
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. shower — to wash
  20. temple — side of the head
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. shower — rain
  24. ground — a position

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