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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: tear · drill · chest · bark · cell · jam · current · file

  1. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  10. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. current — happening now
  2. drill — army training
  3. drill — a practice
  4. file — a document
  5. current — electric
  6. cell — a phone
  7. current — of water
  8. chest — of your body
  9. jam — a tight spot
  10. jam — to spread on bread
  11. tear — to rip
  12. tear — from crying
  13. file — a tool
  14. drill — the tool
  15. file — a line of people
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. bark — to shout
  18. cell — in biology
  19. jam — in traffic
  20. chest — of your body
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. tear — from crying
  24. chest — a box

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