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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: wound · lash · ground · shower · bat · season · lie · bark

  1. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  9. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. Did you ________________ the meat?
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. lie — an untruth
  3. season — of the year
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. wound — an injury
  6. ground — the earth
  7. ground — crushed
  8. lash — an eyelash
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. ground — a position
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. season — to add flavour
  14. season — in sport
  15. bat — the animal
  16. shower — rain
  17. shower — to wash
  18. lash — a whip stroke
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. lie — to recline
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. bark — to shout
  24. wound — an injury

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