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

Word bank: tear · temple · bark · wound · chip · net

  1. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  16. When was this ________________ built?
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. net — after costs
  3. tear — to rip
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. wound — an injury
  7. chip — for betting
  8. tear — from crying
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. temple — side of the head
  12. net — in sport
  13. chip — to eat
  14. bark — to shout
  15. chip — in a computer
  16. temple — a place of worship
  17. tear — from crying
  18. net — for catching

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