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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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  12. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  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. chair — a leader
  2. field — for sport
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. wind — moving air
  5. field — farmland
  6. land — to come down
  7. club — for golf
  8. wind — moving air
  9. current — happening now
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. current — electric
  12. club — a group
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. field — a subject
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. scale — in music
  17. land — ground
  18. club — for dancing
  19. bark — to shout
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. land — a country
  22. scale — size or range
  23. current — of water
  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