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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: wound · tear · straw · bark · bowl · kick

  1. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  15. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  16. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. kick — in football
  6. tear — to rip
  7. wound — an injury
  8. bark — to shout
  9. tear — from crying
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. wound — an injury
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. tear — from crying
  14. bowl — a football final
  15. bowl — a dish
  16. bowl — to roll
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. bark — of a tree

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