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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: temple · shower · mine · bound · tear · chest · trunk · bulb

  1. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. When was this ________________ built?
  9. That was ________________ to happen.
  10. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  14. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. I've got to change the light ________________.
  20. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  21. The light ________________ burned out.
  22. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. tear — from crying
  5. chest — a box
  6. mine — for digging
  7. tear — from crying
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. bound — certain
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. chest — of your body
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. bound — obliged
  14. temple — side of the head
  15. chest — of your body
  16. shower — rain
  17. shower — to wash
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. bulb — for light
  20. bulb — of a plant
  21. bulb — for light
  22. bound — tied together
  23. tear — to rip
  24. mine — belonging to me

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