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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: wind · kid · lie · trunk · row · bark · squash · race

  1. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  14. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. wind — moving air
  5. wind — moving air
  6. squash — the sport
  7. race — a contest
  8. race — the arms race
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. squash — to crush
  12. kid — child
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. race — humankind
  16. lie — to recline
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. row — to paddle
  20. kid — to tease
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. bark — to shout
  24. bark — of a tree

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