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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: club · file · charge · wind · bat · kid · chip · row

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. The tickets are free of ________________.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  6. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  12. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. file — a line of people
  3. charge — a price
  4. row — to paddle
  5. chip — in a computer
  6. chip — to eat
  7. bat — the animal
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. wind — moving air
  11. club — a group
  12. charge — electricity
  13. kid — to tease
  14. kid — child
  15. club — for golf
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. chip — for betting
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. row — a line
  20. club — for dancing
  21. file — a tool
  22. charge — in control
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. file — a document

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