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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: charge · mouse · row · wind · spring · pit · wake · kid

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  10. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  23. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  24. The tickets are free of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. wake — a trail
  4. wind — moving air
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. wind — moving air
  7. pit — a hole
  8. row — a line
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. pit — in a race
  11. kid — child
  12. charge — in control
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. charge — electricity
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. spring — a coil
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. spring — of water
  19. row — to paddle
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. spring — the season
  22. wake — to stop sleeping
  23. mouse — for a computer
  24. charge — a price

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