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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. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  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. bark — to shout
  2. wind — moving air
  3. last — final
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. current — electric
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. perch — the fish
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. row — to paddle
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. wind — moving air
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. chair — a leader
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. row — a line
  18. last — to go on
  19. current — happening now
  20. squash — to crush
  21. last — finally
  22. squash — the sport
  23. chair — to sit on
  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