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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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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. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  2. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. Did you ________________ the meat?
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  14. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. current — happening now
  2. season — in sport
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. current — of water
  5. march — music
  6. season — of the year
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. bowl — a football final
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. season — to add flavour
  11. row — to paddle
  12. bark — to shout
  13. current — electric
  14. bowl — to roll
  15. sharp — clever
  16. row — a line
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. bat — the animal
  21. bowl — a dish
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. march — the month
  24. march — the month

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