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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 · bark · track · wind · clip · firm · chip · last

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  8. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  19. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  20. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. last — to go on
  3. chip — for betting
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. clip — for paper
  6. track — to keep track
  7. chip — in a computer
  8. firm — decided
  9. clip — a video
  10. chip — to eat
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. wind — moving air
  13. clip — to cut
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. bark — to shout
  16. wind — moving air
  17. kid — child
  18. firm — a company
  19. track — a song
  20. track — a path
  21. last — finally
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. last — final
  24. firm — steady

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