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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 surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  2. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  5. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  11. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wave — of the sea
  2. row — to paddle
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. current — of water
  5. pit — in a race
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. wave — with your hand
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. current — happening now
  11. pit — a hole
  12. file — a tool
  13. file — a document
  14. row — a line
  15. tear — to rip
  16. capital — a city
  17. file — a line of people
  18. capital — money
  19. bark — to shout
  20. pit — a fruit stone
  21. tear — from crying
  22. wave — a sudden rise
  23. tear — from crying
  24. current — electric

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