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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: current · hand · bark · pitcher · press · pound · mine · drill

  1. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. Did you ________________ the button?

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. pound — a weight
  3. hand — in cards
  4. current — happening now
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. drill — a practice
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. current — of water
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. drill — army training
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. current — electric
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. drill — the tool
  18. mine — for digging
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. pound — for dogs
  21. hand — help
  22. press — newspapers
  23. bark — to shout
  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