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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: kid · ground · pitcher · fall · bark · hand · pit · bear

  1. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — to put up with
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. bear — the animal
  7. hand — in cards
  8. hand — help
  9. ground — the earth
  10. kid — to tease
  11. bark — to shout
  12. ground — a position
  13. bear — the animal
  14. fall — the season
  15. pit — a fruit stone
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. fall — to drop
  19. ground — crushed
  20. fall — to drop
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. pit — a hole
  23. kid — child
  24. pit — in a race

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