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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: bat · dip · hand · field · bark · bound · race · kick

  1. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  2. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. That was ________________ to happen.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  23. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to dunk
  2. kick — in football
  3. bark — to shout
  4. bound — obliged
  5. hand — in cards
  6. race — a contest
  7. bound — tied together
  8. race — the arms race
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. kick — with a leg
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. bound — certain
  14. field — a subject
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. hand — help
  17. bat — the animal
  18. field — for sport
  19. kick — a thrill
  20. field — farmland
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. dip — a sauce
  23. dip — to sink
  24. race — humankind

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