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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. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. current — happening now
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. row — a line
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. drill — army training
  10. pound — a weight
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. row — to paddle
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. sharp — clever
  16. pitch — completely
  17. current — electric
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. current — of water
  23. drill — the tool
  24. drill — a practice

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