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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: arm · temple · scale · wind · shower · land · chip · bark

  1. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  9. My father caught me by the ________________.
  10. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  11. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  15. When was this ________________ built?
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  21. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. land — to come down
  4. shower — rain
  5. scale — in music
  6. wind — moving air
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. chip — to eat
  11. chip — in a computer
  12. shower — to wash
  13. land — a country
  14. chip — for betting
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. temple — side of the head
  18. wind — moving air
  19. land — ground
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. arm — a part of something
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. scale — size or range

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