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

Word bank: cold · chip · bark · track · bear · bowl · kid · trunk

  1. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  11. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  14. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  20. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  21. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. chip — to eat
  3. cold — an illness
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. bear — the animal
  6. track — to keep track
  7. cold — not warm
  8. track — a song
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. bowl — to roll
  11. bowl — a football final
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. chip — for betting
  14. bear — to put up with
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. kid — to tease
  17. bark — to shout
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. chip — in a computer
  20. track — a path
  21. bear — the animal
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. bowl — a dish
  24. kid — child

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