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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 kitten curled into a ________________.
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  17. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a round shape
  2. ball — a dance
  3. field — for sport
  4. board — a flat piece
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. bark — to shout
  7. current — electric
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. ball — a great time
  10. wound — an injury
  11. cold — an illness
  12. field — farmland
  13. wound — an injury
  14. board — a committee
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. current — of water
  17. board — to get on
  18. wind — moving air
  19. wind — moving air
  20. current — happening now
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. cold — not warm
  23. field — a subject
  24. bark — 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