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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. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  13. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. The tickets are free of ________________.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. kid — to tease
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. field — farmland
  5. kid — child
  6. charge — electricity
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. squash — to crush
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. field — for sport
  11. squash — the sport
  12. charge — in control
  13. deal — an agreement
  14. bark — to shout
  15. charge — a price
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. field — a subject
  18. deal — a big deal
  19. file — a document
  20. wind — moving air
  21. file — a line of people
  22. deal — to handle
  23. wind — moving air
  24. file — a tool

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