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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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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: bark · current · row · mug · file · pitch · track · bat

  1. Where did you ________________ them?
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  5. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  8. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — to rob
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. file — a line of people
  4. current — happening now
  5. mug — a face
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. mug — a cup
  8. current — of water
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. track — a song
  11. bark — to shout
  12. current — electric
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. track — to keep track
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. pitch — completely
  17. row — to paddle
  18. file — a tool
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. row — a line
  21. file — a document
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. track — a path
  24. bat — the animal

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