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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 116 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. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  8. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  20. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  21. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. bore — gave birth
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. net — in sport
  5. tear — to rip
  6. game — wild animals
  7. lash — to lash out
  8. bore — to tire
  9. kid — child
  10. game — a match
  11. bark — to shout
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. net — after costs
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. kid — to tease
  16. ground — a position
  17. tear — from crying
  18. ground — crushed
  19. lash — a whip stroke
  20. bore — to drill
  21. lash — an eyelash
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. net — for catching
  24. ground — the earth

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