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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. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. chest — a box
  3. current — electric
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. net — in sport
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. current — happening now
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. net — after costs
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. current — of water
  13. net — for catching
  14. bark — to shout
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. root — of a plant
  18. shower — rain
  19. root — of a word
  20. shower — to wash
  21. wound — an injury
  22. root — the cause
  23. chest — of your body
  24. wound — an injury

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