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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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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: kick · shower · wound · kid · patient · bark · pass · band

  1. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  16. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. band — a ring
  4. wound — an injury
  5. band — a music group
  6. kick — in football
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. bark — to shout
  12. kid — child
  13. wound — an injury
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. pass — a permit
  16. pass — to succeed
  17. kid — to tease
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. pass — to spend time
  20. shower — rain
  21. shower — to wash
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. patient — calm and waiting
  24. band — a rubber band

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