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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 116 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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  3. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. This piece is in a major ________________.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. firm — decided
  3. key — the most important part
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. ground — the earth
  6. key — for a lock
  7. wind — moving air
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. ground — crushed
  12. key — in music
  13. file — a tool
  14. file — a document
  15. kid — child
  16. ground — a position
  17. bark — to shout
  18. file — a line of people
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. firm — steady
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. firm — a company
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. kid — to tease

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