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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. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  7. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  8. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. current — happening now
  4. wound — an injury
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. jam — in traffic
  7. current — electric
  8. current — of water
  9. wound — an injury
  10. jam — to spread on bread
  11. bark — to shout
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. jam — a tight spot
  15. wind — moving air
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. mine — for digging
  18. game — a match
  19. bat — the animal
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. wind — moving air
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. game — wild animals

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