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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: shower · clip · temple · rush · content · game · face · march

  1. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. That must've been a ________________.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. When was this ________________ built?
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. clip — to cut
  3. rush — a thrill
  4. shower — to wash
  5. face — to confront
  6. face — part of the head
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. game — wild animals
  9. clip — a video
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. march — the month
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. rush — hurry
  15. march — music
  16. game — a match
  17. shower — rain
  18. temple — side of the head
  19. face — to point toward
  20. content — happy
  21. clip — for paper
  22. rush — to hurry
  23. content — the amount
  24. game — a kind of play

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