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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: bark · shower · lash · kick · tube · kid · stand · deal

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  7. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  13. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  14. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  23. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  24. I can't ________________ this cold.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. kid — to tease
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. deal — to handle
  7. stand — on your feet
  8. shower — to wash
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. lash — a whip stroke
  11. tube — the underground
  12. lash — an eyelash
  13. kick — a thrill
  14. deal — a big deal
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. lash — to lash out
  17. bark — to shout
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. shower — rain
  20. tube — a container
  21. kick — in football
  22. stand — for spectators
  23. deal — an agreement
  24. stand — to bear

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