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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. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  6. We're on a ________________ here.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. When was this ________________ built?
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  11. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. current — electric
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. temple — side of the head
  6. roll — on a roll
  7. spell — letters
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. spell — a short time
  10. current — happening now
  11. temple — a place of worship
  12. cold — not warm
  13. cold — an illness
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. roll — a cake
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. roll — a list
  19. season — of the year
  20. season — in sport
  21. spell — magic
  22. current — of water
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. trunk — of a tree

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