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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: temple · kid · racket · cap · wound · bark · band · wake

  1. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  2. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. When was this ________________ built?
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. cap — of ice
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. wound — an injury
  6. bark — to shout
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. cap — a hat
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. wound — an injury
  14. band — a music group
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. cap — a lid
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. band — a ring
  20. kid — to tease
  21. temple — side of the head
  22. kid — child
  23. wake — a trail
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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