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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: current · bark · rash · present · sharp · trunk · shower · file

  1. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  8. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. present — a gift
  3. current — of water
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. present — the time now
  6. rash — a series
  7. current — happening now
  8. current — electric
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. sharp — clever
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. file — a tool
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. shower — rain
  16. bark — to shout
  17. file — a document
  18. present — there
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. shower — to wash
  21. rash — hasty
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. file — a line of people

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