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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: bark · bound · coach · temple · bear · row · cold · rush

  1. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. That must've been a ________________.
  12. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Have you met the new head ________________?
  20. That was ________________ to happen.
  21. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  22. When was this ________________ built?
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. Take your time. There's no ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. row — a line
  3. temple — side of the head
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. cold — not warm
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. bear — the animal
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. rush — a thrill
  12. bound — obliged
  13. bound — tied together
  14. bear — the animal
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. row — to paddle
  17. bark — to shout
  18. cold — an illness
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. bound — certain
  21. bear — to put up with
  22. temple — a place of worship
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. rush — hurry

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