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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. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  13. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  14. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. present — there
  3. bass — low music
  4. band — a music group
  5. mark — to pay attention
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. present — a gift
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. row — to paddle
  11. present — the time now
  12. current — happening now
  13. current — of water
  14. bass — the instrument
  15. shower — rain
  16. mark — a trace
  17. bark — to shout
  18. bass — the fish
  19. row — a line
  20. mark — a grade
  21. band — a ring
  22. current — electric
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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