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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: rush · chest · bark · wax · kick · roll · hide · tear

  1. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  15. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  16. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. We're on a ________________ here.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. That must've been a ________________.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. chest — a box
  5. roll — a cake
  6. tear — to rip
  7. tear — from crying
  8. rush — hurry
  9. wax — to grow
  10. roll — a list
  11. bark — to shout
  12. tear — from crying
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. hide — animal skin
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. chest — of your body
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. chest — of your body
  20. roll — on a roll
  21. kick — in football
  22. rush — a thrill
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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