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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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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: pop · stock · wound · chest · temple · band · kid · bark

  1. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. You don't need to ________________ round.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. When was this ________________ built?
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. temple — side of the head
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. chest — of your body
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. stock — goods
  8. band — a ring
  9. chest — of your body
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. stock — shares
  12. pop — soda
  13. pop — music
  14. pop — to visit
  15. kid — to tease
  16. chest — a box
  17. kid — child
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. bark — to shout
  21. wound — an injury
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. wound — an injury

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