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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: wind · bark · drill · snap · patient · temple · race · file

  1. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  2. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. When was this ________________ built?
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. drill — a practice
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. temple — side of the head
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. snap — to click
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. wind — moving air
  10. file — a document
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. drill — army training
  13. drill — the tool
  14. race — a contest
  15. bark — to shout
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. wind — moving air
  19. race — the arms race
  20. race — humankind
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. file — a line of people
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. file — a tool

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