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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. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  10. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. current — of water
  2. race — a contest
  3. wound — an injury
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. current — happening now
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. chair — a leader
  9. current — electric
  10. pound — for dogs
  11. wound — an injury
  12. mark — to pay attention
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. mark — a grade
  15. race — the arms race
  16. pound — a weight
  17. race — humankind
  18. field — for sport
  19. bark — to shout
  20. field — a subject
  21. field — farmland
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. mark — a trace
  24. bark — of a tree

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