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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: craft · clip · band · row · bark · current · press · mark

  1. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  3. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  6. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  12. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  13. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  14. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. Did you ________________ the button?

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. current — happening now
  3. craft — boats
  4. clip — to cut
  5. current — electric
  6. current — of water
  7. band — a ring
  8. clip — a video
  9. bark — to shout
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. mark — to pay attention
  12. craft — a skill
  13. craft — a handicraft
  14. mark — a grade
  15. row — a line
  16. mark — a trace
  17. clip — for paper
  18. press — a publisher
  19. band — a music group
  20. press — newspapers
  21. row — to paddle
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. press — to push

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