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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: fork · stick · field · temple · tear · bark · hide · cell

  1. When was this ________________ built?
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  4. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  5. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  6. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. stick — to attach or keep to
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. hide — animal skin
  9. tear — to rip
  10. temple — side of the head
  11. fork — in a road
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. tear — from crying
  14. field — farmland
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. bark — to shout
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. cell — in biology
  20. tear — from crying
  21. cell — a phone
  22. field — a subject
  23. field — for sport
  24. fork — to eat with

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