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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 120 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: lie · bear · bark · cold · lash · net · spring · kick

  1. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  6. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  7. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  13. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  16. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. kick — in football
  5. lash — to lash out
  6. lie — to recline
  7. bear — to put up with
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. net — for catching
  10. bear — the animal
  11. spring — of water
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. kick — a thrill
  14. spring — the season
  15. lash — a whip stroke
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. spring — a coil
  19. lash — an eyelash
  20. cold — an illness
  21. bark — to shout
  22. net — after costs
  23. bear — the animal
  24. cold — not warm

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