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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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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: bark · firm · jam · squash · wind · kid · hand · row

  1. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  2. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. Tom got himself in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. jam — to spread on bread
  2. jam — in traffic
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. firm — steady
  5. kid — to tease
  6. wind — moving air
  7. kid — child
  8. firm — a company
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. firm — decided
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. row — to paddle
  14. hand — help
  15. squash — to crush
  16. squash — the sport
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. bark — to shout
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. hand — in cards
  21. wind — moving air
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. row — a line
  24. jam — a tight spot

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