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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 116 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 · bark · chip · game · march · straw · spring · lie

  1. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  10. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  16. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. game — wild animals
  3. spring — the season
  4. current — happening now
  5. march — music
  6. spring — of water
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. current — electric
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. march — the month
  12. chip — to eat
  13. game — a match
  14. bark — to shout
  15. lie — to recline
  16. chip — for betting
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. current — of water
  19. march — the month
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. chip — in a computer
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. spring — a coil

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