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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 116 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. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  13. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  19. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  20. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. current — happening now
  2. net — after costs
  3. row — a line
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. bore — gave birth
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. clip — to cut
  8. clip — for paper
  9. chip — for betting
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. bark — to shout
  12. current — electric
  13. chip — to eat
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. chip — in a computer
  16. net — in sport
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. bore — to tire
  19. current — of water
  20. bore — to drill
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. row — to paddle
  23. net — for catching
  24. clip — a video

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