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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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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: date · mine · bulb · kid · racket · shower · content · temple

  1. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. Have you settled on a ________________?
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. I've got to change the light ________________.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  10. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  11. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  14. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. When was this ________________ built?
  18. The light ________________ burned out.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. shower — rain
  3. kid — child
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. bulb — for light
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. date — the fruit
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. temple — side of the head
  14. racket — a loud noise
  15. kid — to tease
  16. shower — to wash
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. bulb — for light
  19. mine — for digging
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. bulb — of a plant
  23. content — the amount
  24. content — happy

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