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

Word bank: trunk · firm · wound · bark · staff · hand · leaves · temple

  1. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  2. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  4. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  12. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  13. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. When was this ________________ built?

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. staff — employees
  3. staff — employees
  4. firm — decided
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. wound — an injury
  7. hand — help
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. wound — an injury
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. leaves — of a tree
  12. temple — side of the head
  13. firm — a company
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. leaves — to go away
  16. hand — in cards
  17. firm — steady
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. staff — a stick
  21. bark — to shout
  22. leaves — lets stay
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. temple — a place of worship

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