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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: bore · hide · press · kid · bark · kick · board · branch

  1. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  11. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  20. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  21. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  22. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. kid — to tease
  4. press — to push
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. bore — to tire
  7. kick — in football
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. bore — gave birth
  11. hide — animal skin
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. press — newspapers
  14. bark — to shout
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. kid — child
  19. bore — to drill
  20. board — a flat piece
  21. board — a committee
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. branch — a division
  24. board — to get on

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