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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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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 · trunk · fork · lie · bark · file · bay · game

  1. My mare is ________________ in color.
  2. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  6. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  7. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  23. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. bay — a horse colour
  2. current — of water
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. current — electric
  7. bay — a part of the sea
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. bay — to keep at bay
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. bark — to shout
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. fork — in a road
  15. game — wild animals
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. file — a line of people
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. game — a match
  21. file — a tool
  22. current — happening now
  23. lie — to recline
  24. file — a document

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