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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: kid · club · racket · wind · file · fall

  1. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  7. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  13. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  14. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. fall — to drop
  3. kid — child
  4. fall — the season
  5. wind — moving air
  6. club — a group
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. file — a line of people
  10. file — a tool
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. club — for golf
  13. racket — a loud noise
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. wind — moving air
  16. file — a document
  17. kid — to tease
  18. club — for dancing

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