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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 · prune · chest · land · season · wind · calf · court

  1. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  2. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. When was this ________________ built?
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  8. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. He had ________________ pain while walking.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — the fruit
  2. temple — side of the head
  3. court — for sport
  4. land — ground
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. chest — of your body
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. prune — to trim
  10. season — of the year
  11. chest — a box
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. court — of law
  14. land — a country
  15. wind — moving air
  16. prune — to trim
  17. chest — of your body
  18. court — of a king
  19. season — in sport
  20. land — to come down
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. wind — moving air
  24. calf — of the leg

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