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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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Word bank
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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: last · clip · track · bat · kick · bore · plane · bark

  1. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. The ________________ took off on time.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — gave birth
  2. bark — to shout
  3. bore — to drill
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. bore — to tire
  6. last — final
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. last — to go on
  10. track — a song
  11. clip — a video
  12. plane — in geometry
  13. last — finally
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. track — a path
  16. clip — for paper
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. plane — a tool
  19. plane — an aircraft
  20. bat — the animal
  21. track — to keep track
  22. clip — to cut
  23. kick — in football
  24. bat — for baseball

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