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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. My mare is ________________ in color.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. current — of water
  3. band — a ring
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. bark — to shout
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. bay — a horse colour
  8. field — for sport
  9. shower — to wash
  10. current — happening now
  11. spring — of water
  12. field — a subject
  13. current — electric
  14. band — a music group
  15. row — to paddle
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. shower — rain
  18. row — a line
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. spring — a coil
  21. bay — a part of the sea
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. bay — to keep at bay
  24. spring — the season

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