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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: pound · bore · temple · wind · tear · spell · roll · rock

  1. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  2. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. When was this ________________ built?
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  16. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  17. We're on a ________________ here.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  21. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  22. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  23. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. rock — to move gently
  3. spell — a short time
  4. tear — from crying
  5. rock — a stone
  6. tear — from crying
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. spell — letters
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. wind — moving air
  11. roll — a cake
  12. pound — a weight
  13. temple — side of the head
  14. tear — to rip
  15. rock — music
  16. bore — gave birth
  17. roll — on a roll
  18. spell — magic
  19. wind — moving air
  20. bore — to drill
  21. roll — a list
  22. pound — for dogs
  23. bore — to tire
  24. wind — to turn a key

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