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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: face · tear · spring · kid · bat · racket · roll · bark

  1. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  2. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  15. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. We're on a ________________ here.
  22. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a list
  2. roll — a cake
  3. tear — to rip
  4. bark — to shout
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. kid — to tease
  8. spring — a coil
  9. tear — from crying
  10. kid — child
  11. face — to confront
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. face — part of the head
  14. racket — a loud noise
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. face — to point toward
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. spring — of water
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. bat — the animal
  21. roll — on a roll
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. spring — the season
  24. tear — from crying

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