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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: date · temple · field · chest · bark · tube · mate · bowl

  1. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  5. When was this ________________ built?
  6. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  18. Have you settled on a ________________?
  19. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. Have you found your soul ________________?
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. chest — a box
  4. bowl — a dish
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. temple — side of the head
  7. bark — to shout
  8. field — for sport
  9. bowl — a football final
  10. tube — the underground
  11. bowl — to roll
  12. field — farmland
  13. mate — to breed
  14. field — a subject
  15. tube — a container
  16. chest — of your body
  17. date — the fruit
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. chest — of your body
  22. mate — a partner
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. mate — a friend

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