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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: kid · bark · temple · march · wind · pound

  1. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  5. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. When was this ________________ built?
  8. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. bark — to shout
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. pound — for dogs
  6. kid — child
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. temple — side of the head
  9. wind — moving air
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. kid — to tease
  12. pound — a weight
  13. march — the month
  14. march — music
  15. march — the month
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. wind — moving air
  18. 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