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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. kid — to tease
  3. track — a path
  4. track — a song
  5. kick — in football
  6. rash — hasty
  7. rule — a law
  8. row — to paddle
  9. wind — moving air
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. rule — government
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. kick — a thrill
  16. row — a line
  17. rash — a series
  18. wind — moving air
  19. track — to keep track
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. bark — to shout
  23. kick — with a leg
  24. wind — to turn a key

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