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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: file · chest · bark · kid · season · wind · lie · can

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  11. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  18. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  19. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. file — a line of people
  3. kid — child
  4. can — a tin
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. wind — moving air
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. bark — to shout
  9. kid — to tease
  10. can — a tin
  11. season — in sport
  12. file — a document
  13. lie — to recline
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. chest — of your body
  16. wind — moving air
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. can — to be able to
  20. season — of the year
  21. file — a tool
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. chest — a box
  24. bark — of a tree

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