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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 116 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: stem · deal · face · wound · rest · band · bark · kick

  1. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  8. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  13. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. face — part of the head
  4. deal — a big deal
  5. wound — an injury
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. rest — what's left
  8. deal — to handle
  9. wound — an injury
  10. rest — what's left
  11. face — to point toward
  12. rest — a break
  13. deal — an agreement
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. bark — to shout
  16. kick — in football
  17. band — a music group
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. band — a ring
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. face — to confront
  24. stem — to come from

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