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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. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. I can't ________________ this cold.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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. spell — a short time
  4. drill — the tool
  5. stand — for spectators
  6. spell — letters
  7. file — a line of people
  8. bark — to shout
  9. drill — a practice
  10. drill — army training
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. wind — moving air
  13. tube — the underground
  14. wind — moving air
  15. file — a tool
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. stand — to bear
  18. tube — a container
  19. stand — on your feet
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. file — a document
  22. kid — child
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. spell — magic

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