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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: bark · kick · row · wind · shower · bear · temple · bat

  1. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. When was this ________________ built?
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  5. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  21. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. bear — the animal
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. bat — the animal
  8. bear — the animal
  9. shower — to wash
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. row — to paddle
  13. kick — in football
  14. bark — to shout
  15. wind — moving air
  16. temple — side of the head
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. kick — a thrill
  21. bear — to put up with
  22. shower — rain
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. wind — moving air

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