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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  7. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  8. This piece is in a major ________________.
  9. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. key — for a lock
  3. net — after costs
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. current — happening now
  7. current — electric
  8. key — in music
  9. key — the most important part
  10. net — for catching
  11. current — of water
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. net — in sport
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. bark — to shout
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. mine — for digging
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. branch — a division
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. shower — rain

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