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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: wind · bark · chip · mine · lean · march · kid · mark

  1. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  2. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  3. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — a trace
  2. chip — to eat
  3. chip — for betting
  4. kid — child
  5. march — the month
  6. mark — to pay attention
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. wind — moving air
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. lean — to bend
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. march — music
  15. lean — thin
  16. march — the month
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. bark — to shout
  19. mark — a grade
  20. mine — for digging
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. kid — to tease
  23. wind — moving air
  24. lean — to rest against

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