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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  8. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  9. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  13. That must've been a ________________.
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. Have you settled on a ________________?
  16. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  22. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. present — a gift
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. track — a song
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. present — the time now
  8. track — a path
  9. rush — hurry
  10. sharp — clever
  11. track — to keep track
  12. current — electric
  13. rush — a thrill
  14. present — there
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. rush — to hurry
  17. bark — to shout
  18. cold — not warm
  19. date — the fruit
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. current — happening now
  22. current — of water
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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