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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: club · straw · kid · bark · lean · file · ground · temple

  1. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  18. When was this ________________ built?
  19. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — a group
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. club — for dancing
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. lean — thin
  7. temple — side of the head
  8. file — a line of people
  9. lean — to rest against
  10. kid — child
  11. ground — the earth
  12. file — a tool
  13. ground — crushed
  14. bark — to shout
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. kid — to tease
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. lean — to bend
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. file — a document
  22. club — for golf
  23. ground — a position
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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