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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  16. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. row — to paddle
  3. mine — for digging
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. bat — the animal
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. tear — to rip
  8. kick — in football
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. lean — thin
  11. bark — to shout
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. tear — from crying
  14. tear — from crying
  15. lean — to rest against
  16. lean — to bend
  17. hand — help
  18. hand — in cards
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. kick — with a leg
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. row — a line

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