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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: wave · bark · temple · wound · dip · field · wind · spring

  1. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  2. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  3. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  9. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. When was this ________________ built?
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to dunk
  2. temple — side of the head
  3. dip — to sink
  4. wind — moving air
  5. wave — a sudden rise
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. field — a subject
  8. dip — a sauce
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. bark — to shout
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. wave — with your hand
  13. field — farmland
  14. wound — an injury
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. spring — a coil
  17. wind — moving air
  18. wave — of the sea
  19. spring — of water
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. wound — an injury
  23. field — for sport
  24. spring — the season

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