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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: temple · court · shower · current · bat · chip · clip · date

  1. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  3. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  4. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  5. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  6. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  7. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. Have you settled on a ________________?
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. When was this ________________ built?
  15. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. temple — side of the head
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. chip — to eat
  5. current — happening now
  6. current — of water
  7. chip — in a computer
  8. court — for sport
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. court — of a king
  13. shower — to wash
  14. temple — a place of worship
  15. current — electric
  16. bat — the animal
  17. clip — for paper
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. court — of law
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. clip — a video
  22. chip — for betting
  23. clip — to cut
  24. date — the fruit

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