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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: kick · bark · toast · net · tear · row

  1. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  13. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. tear — from crying
  3. toast — bread
  4. tear — from crying
  5. bark — to shout
  6. net — after costs
  7. net — for catching
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. kick — in football
  10. row — to paddle
  11. tear — to rip
  12. toast — a drink to someone
  13. toast — the most admired
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. row — a line
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. net — in sport

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