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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: bark · snap · trunk · wound · kick · plane

  1. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. The ________________ took off on time.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. plane — an aircraft
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. kick — in football
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. kick — with a leg
  11. wound — an injury
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. plane — in geometry
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. wound — an injury
  16. bark — to shout
  17. plane — a tool
  18. bark — a dog's sound

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