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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: straw · bark · kid · kick · ground · craft · shower · drill

  1. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  10. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. kid — to tease
  3. drill — army training
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. drill — the tool
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. kid — child
  9. craft — a skill
  10. craft — boats
  11. ground — a position
  12. shower — rain
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. kick — in football
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. craft — a handicraft
  17. bark — to shout
  18. drill — a practice
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. ground — the earth
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. ground — crushed
  24. shower — to wash

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