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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 · cold · calf · game · vault · temple · leaves · bore

  1. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  2. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  3. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  4. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  10. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  15. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  16. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  23. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  24. When was this ________________ built?

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. vault — an arched ceiling
  3. calf — of the leg
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. bore — gave birth
  7. shower — to wash
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. leaves — of a tree
  10. bore — to tire
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. leaves — to go away
  13. shower — rain
  14. vault — in gymnastics
  15. vault — a safe
  16. leaves — lets stay
  17. game — a match
  18. cold — not warm
  19. cold — an illness
  20. temple — side of the head
  21. game — wild animals
  22. bore — to drill
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. temple — a place of worship

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