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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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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: temple · bark · hand · spring · tear · club · firm · capital

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  3. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. When was this ________________ built?
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  17. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. club — a group
  3. temple — side of the head
  4. hand — help
  5. capital — money
  6. temple — a place of worship
  7. bark — to shout
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. firm — decided
  11. tear — from crying
  12. firm — a company
  13. spring — a coil
  14. temple — a place of worship
  15. spring — the season
  16. club — for golf
  17. club — for dancing
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. spring — of water
  20. capital — a city
  21. hand — in cards
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. tear — to rip
  24. firm — steady

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