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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: straw · wake · temple · row · field · bark · bear · capital

  1. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  2. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. When was this ________________ built?
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. A black ________________ roamed the forest.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — side of the head
  2. bear — to put up with
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. bear — the animal
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. bark — to shout
  8. field — a subject
  9. wake — a trail
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. row — to paddle
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. temple — a place of worship
  14. row — a line
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. capital — money
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. field — for sport
  22. capital — a city
  23. field — farmland
  24. bear — the animal

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