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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: bore · hide · press · kid · bark · kick

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. Did you ________________ the button?
  10. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  11. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. press — a publisher
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. bore — to tire
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. kid — child
  9. press — to push
  10. bore — gave birth
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. press — newspapers
  13. bore — to drill
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. bark — to shout
  16. hide — animal skin
  17. kick — in football
  18. kick — with a leg

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