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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  8. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  11. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  12. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. Let us try to swim against the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. current — happening now
  3. last — final
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. bowl — a dish
  6. kid — child
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. bowl — to roll
  9. last — to go on
  10. coach — pulled by horses
  11. bowl — a football final
  12. dip — to sink
  13. bark — to shout
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. dip — to dunk
  18. wound — an injury
  19. current — electric
  20. wound — an injury
  21. last — finally
  22. dip — a sauce
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. current — of water

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