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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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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: key · swing · bowl · cell · bark · fall · current · press

  1. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  2. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  8. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  9. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  13. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. This piece is in a major ________________.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. bowl — to roll
  3. fall — to drop
  4. current — of water
  5. swing — to play on
  6. press — to push
  7. bowl — a dish
  8. current — happening now
  9. key — for a lock
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. fall — to drop
  12. bowl — a football final
  13. current — electric
  14. cell — a phone
  15. press — newspapers
  16. bark — to shout
  17. swing — music
  18. cell — in biology
  19. key — in music
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. fall — the season
  23. swing — in golf
  24. press — a publisher

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