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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. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  5. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. The ________________ went through the wall.
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  15. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  20. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  21. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  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. current — of water
  2. tear — to rip
  3. drill — army training
  4. current — electric
  5. nail — on a finger
  6. row — to paddle
  7. game — a match
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. drill — the tool
  12. game — wild animals
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. chip — for betting
  15. current — happening now
  16. row — a line
  17. bark — to shout
  18. tear — from crying
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. chip — in a computer
  21. chip — to eat
  22. tear — from crying
  23. drill — a practice
  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