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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: rock · bat · bark · cell · tear · kick

  1. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. bat — the animal
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. bark — to shout
  7. rock — a stone
  8. tear — from crying
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. kick — in football
  11. rock — to move gently
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. rock — music
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. tear — to rip
  16. cell — a phone
  17. tear — from crying
  18. cell — in biology

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