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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: bark · craft · land · rash · bear · kid · pit · wind

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  10. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  19. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  20. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. craft — boats
  3. kid — child
  4. rash — hasty
  5. bear — to put up with
  6. land — a country
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. wind — moving air
  9. bear — the animal
  10. bear — the animal
  11. bark — to shout
  12. rash — a series
  13. pit — a hole
  14. wind — moving air
  15. pit — in a race
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. land — ground
  18. craft — a skill
  19. craft — a handicraft
  20. pit — a fruit stone
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. land — to come down
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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