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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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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 · tube · row · sharp · straw · season · track

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. track — to keep track
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. season — in sport
  6. bark — to shout
  7. row — to paddle
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. row — a line
  12. track — a song
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. tube — the underground
  15. kid — to tease
  16. track — a path
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. sharp — clever
  19. tube — a container
  20. season — of the year
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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