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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. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  12. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  20. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  21. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. current — electric
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. bark — to shout
  5. staff — a stick
  6. wound — an injury
  7. current — of water
  8. net — in sport
  9. hand — in cards
  10. net — after costs
  11. deal — an agreement
  12. deal — to handle
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. field — for sport
  15. staff — employees
  16. net — for catching
  17. field — a subject
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. staff — employees
  20. deal — a big deal
  21. current — happening now
  22. hand — help
  23. wound — an injury
  24. field — farmland

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