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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  22. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. hand — help
  4. cap — of ice
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. face — to confront
  7. board — a flat piece
  8. cap — a hat
  9. wind — moving air
  10. file — a tool
  11. cap — a lid
  12. current — happening now
  13. file — a line of people
  14. hand — in cards
  15. face — to point toward
  16. board — to get on
  17. wind — moving air
  18. current — electric
  19. bark — to shout
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. board — a committee
  22. current — of water
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. file — a document

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