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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  6. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  7. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. Have you settled on a ________________?
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  19. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. bark — to shout
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. kid — to tease
  5. leaves — to go away
  6. leaves — of a tree
  7. leaves — lets stay
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. kid — child
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. wind — moving air
  15. club — for golf
  16. tube — the underground
  17. wind — moving air
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. club — a group
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. date — the fruit
  22. tube — a container
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. club — for dancing

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