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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. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  14. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  15. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.

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

Answer key

  1. current — happening now
  2. last — to go on
  3. last — finally
  4. club — a group
  5. last — final
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. hand — help
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. lean — to bend
  10. clip — to cut
  11. current — electric
  12. clip — a video
  13. club — for golf
  14. current — of water
  15. lean — thin
  16. clip — for paper
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. club — for dancing
  20. bark — to shout
  21. hand — in cards
  22. lean — to rest against
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. patient — calm and waiting

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