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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 116 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. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  5. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  6. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. What do you think of the new ________________?
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  20. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  21. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  22. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. current — of water
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. spring — the season
  4. current — happening now
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. bass — the fish
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. bark — to shout
  13. cold — an illness
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. spring — of water
  16. cold — not warm
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. bass — low music
  20. calf — of the leg
  21. current — electric
  22. cabinet — a cupboard
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. spring — a coil

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