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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: lean · pit · bark · chest · wind · dip · degree · kid

  1. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. kid — child
  3. kid — to tease
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. lean — to bend
  6. lean — thin
  7. chest — a box
  8. bark — to shout
  9. chest — of your body
  10. pit — a fruit stone
  11. degree — temperature
  12. pit — a hole
  13. dip — to sink
  14. pit — in a race
  15. dip — a sauce
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. dip — to dunk
  18. wind — moving air
  19. chest — of your body
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. wind — moving air
  22. degree — an amount
  23. degree — from a university
  24. lean — to rest against

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