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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: mug · bark · bat · cap · wind · hide · wound · temple

  1. Where did you ________________ them?
  2. When was this ________________ built?
  3. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  4. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  7. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  24. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?

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

Answer key

  1. mug — to rob
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. mug — a cup
  4. temple — side of the head
  5. wind — moving air
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. mug — a face
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. bat — the animal
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. temple — a place of worship
  14. bark — to shout
  15. wound — an injury
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. cap — of ice
  18. cap — a lid
  19. wind — moving air
  20. wound — an injury
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. cap — a hat
  24. hide — to keep secret

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