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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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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 · wake · lean · wind · bark · cold · row · chair

  1. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held 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. lean — to rest against
  3. row — to paddle
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. wake — a trail
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. kid — to tease
  9. bark — to shout
  10. wind — moving air
  11. cold — not warm
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. wind — moving air
  14. chair — a leader
  15. cold — an illness
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. kid — child
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. lean — to bend
  20. row — a line
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. lean — thin
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. chair — a professorship

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