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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  6. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. That was ________________ to happen.
  9. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  10. My mare is ________________ in color.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. wind — moving air
  3. net — in sport
  4. net — for catching
  5. bay — to keep at bay
  6. bay — a part of the sea
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. bound — certain
  9. root — of a plant
  10. bay — a horse colour
  11. file — a document
  12. root — the cause
  13. file — a line of people
  14. bound — tied together
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. file — a tool
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. root — of a word
  19. wind — moving air
  20. bound — obliged
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. net — after costs
  24. kid — child

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