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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: mine · bark · bass · wind · staff · kick · straw · hand

  1. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  20. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. bark — to shout
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. bass — low music
  6. staff — employees
  7. wind — moving air
  8. staff — employees
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. kick — in football
  13. wind — moving air
  14. hand — help
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. hand — in cards
  18. bass — the fish
  19. staff — a stick
  20. kick — with a leg
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. straw — dry grass

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