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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: race · wind · current · sharp · clip · bark · court · toast

  1. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  7. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  11. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. wind — moving air
  3. sharp — clever
  4. wind — moving air
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. toast — bread
  7. toast — a drink to someone
  8. race — a contest
  9. court — of law
  10. toast — the most admired
  11. current — happening now
  12. clip — for paper
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. current — electric
  15. race — humankind
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. bark — to shout
  18. race — the arms race
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. clip — to cut
  22. current — of water
  23. clip — a video
  24. court — for sport

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