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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: pit · swing · kid · wind · bark · stem · hand · spring

  1. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. kid — child
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. wind — moving air
  6. stem — to come from
  7. kid — to tease
  8. pit — a hole
  9. spring — a coil
  10. bark — to shout
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. spring — of water
  13. pit — a fruit stone
  14. spring — the season
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. pit — in a race
  19. swing — to play on
  20. swing — music
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. swing — in golf
  23. wind — moving air
  24. hand — help

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