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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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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: swing · cold · wax · bear · temple · rule · coach · bark

  1. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  3. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  4. When was this ________________ built?
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  19. Have you met the new head ________________?
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  23. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  24. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. swing — in golf
  3. bear — the animal
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. swing — to play on
  6. bear — the animal
  7. rule — a law
  8. bark — to shout
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. temple — side of the head
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. cold — an illness
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. swing — music
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. wax — to grow
  21. cold — not warm
  22. rule — government
  23. bear — to put up with
  24. coach — pulled by horses

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