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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  2. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. Have you found your soul ________________?
  8. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  21. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. When was this ________________ built?
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — side of the head
  2. mate — to breed
  3. net — for catching
  4. row — a line
  5. field — farmland
  6. bark — to shout
  7. mate — a partner
  8. ruler — a monarch
  9. net — in sport
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. row — to paddle
  14. field — for sport
  15. ruler — for measuring
  16. shower — rain
  17. field — a subject
  18. mate — a friend
  19. shower — to wash
  20. ruler — for measuring
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. net — after costs
  23. temple — a place of worship
  24. bark — of a tree

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