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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: bay · wound · bark · row · plane · straw · temple · rock

  1. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  3. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  4. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  5. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  6. My mare is ________________ in color.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  9. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. The ________________ took off on time.
  12. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  13. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. When was this ________________ built?
  23. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. bay — to keep at bay
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. temple — side of the head
  5. rock — to move gently
  6. bay — a horse colour
  7. row — a line
  8. bay — a part of the sea
  9. rock — music
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. plane — an aircraft
  12. plane — a tool
  13. plane — in geometry
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. bark — to shout
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. row — to paddle
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. wound — an injury
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. temple — a place of worship
  23. rock — a stone
  24. straw — a straw man

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