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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 120 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: wound · rest · bark · object · bat · wind · pound · chip

  1. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  21. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  24. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — to eat
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. bat — the animal
  4. rest — a break
  5. wind — moving air
  6. pound — to hit hard
  7. wound — an injury
  8. object — to protest
  9. wind — moving air
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. object — an aim
  12. wound — an injury
  13. chip — for betting
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. bark — to shout
  17. pound — a weight
  18. rest — what's left
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. chip — in a computer
  21. rest — what's left
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. object — a thing
  24. pound — for dogs

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