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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: wound · perch · bark · current · temple · kick · file · bulb

  1. The light ________________ burned out.
  2. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. When was this ________________ built?
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  12. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. I've got to change the light ________________.
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  24. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. temple — side of the head
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. current — electric
  8. bark — to shout
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. wound — an injury
  11. current — happening now
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. file — a line of people
  16. current — of water
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. wound — an injury
  19. file — a document
  20. file — a tool
  21. kick — in football
  22. bulb — for light
  23. perch — the fish
  24. bulb — of a plant

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