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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 · cold · swing · firm · lean · sharp · capital · bark

  1. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  4. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  12. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  17. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. He is as ________________ as a wolf.

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

Answer key

  1. current — of water
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. current — electric
  4. lean — to bend
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. capital — a city
  7. swing — to play on
  8. swing — music
  9. cold — an illness
  10. swing — in golf
  11. lean — to rest against
  12. current — happening now
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. sharp — clever
  15. cold — not warm
  16. firm — a company
  17. firm — decided
  18. bark — to shout
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. capital — money
  22. firm — steady
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. lean — thin

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