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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. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  5. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  18. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  23. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  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. lie — to recline
  2. club — for golf
  3. kid — to tease
  4. leaves — of a tree
  5. chip — for betting
  6. bark — to shout
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. file — a document
  9. club — a group
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. chip — in a computer
  12. cold — an illness
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. cold — not warm
  17. leaves — lets stay
  18. chip — to eat
  19. file — a line of people
  20. leaves — to go away
  21. kid — child
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. club — for dancing
  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