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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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  16. The ________________ took off on time.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  21. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. current — electric
  3. bark — to shout
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. rash — a series
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. fork — in a road
  11. current — of water
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. field — for sport
  14. rash — hasty
  15. current — happening now
  16. plane — an aircraft
  17. game — a match
  18. game — wild animals
  19. field — a subject
  20. plane — a tool
  21. plane — in geometry
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. field — farmland
  24. wind — moving air

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