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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: rock · bat · bark · cell · tear · kick · fan · snap

  1. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. bat — the animal
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. rock — a stone
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. tear — from crying
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. rock — music
  13. tear — from crying
  14. cell — a phone
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. snap — to click
  17. rock — to move gently
  18. bark — to shout
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. cell — in biology
  21. kick — in football
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. tear — to rip

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