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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 120 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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Word bank
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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: wind · ground · bark · chip · fall · face · racket · pop

  1. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  15. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  18. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. pop — music
  4. wind — moving air
  5. fall — to drop
  6. face — to point toward
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. face — to confront
  9. ground — a position
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. ground — crushed
  12. fall — the season
  13. face — part of the head
  14. chip — for betting
  15. chip — in a computer
  16. pop — soda
  17. racket — a loud noise
  18. chip — to eat
  19. fall — to drop
  20. bark — to shout
  21. wind — moving air
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. ground — the earth

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