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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: kid · charge · bark · net · pit · track · chest · file

  1. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  2. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. The tickets are free of ________________.
  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. pit — a fruit stone
  2. track — a path
  3. charge — electricity
  4. kid — to tease
  5. file — a tool
  6. file — a line of people
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. chest — of your body
  9. bark — to shout
  10. charge — in control
  11. track — a song
  12. pit — in a race
  13. net — in sport
  14. net — after costs
  15. pit — a hole
  16. chest — a box
  17. chest — of your body
  18. track — to keep track
  19. net — for catching
  20. kid — child
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. file — a document
  23. charge — a price
  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