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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 120 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: hand · game · capital · stem · court · rash · current · bark

  1. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. current — happening now
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. rash — a series
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. hand — in cards
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. game — wild animals
  8. stem — to come from
  9. current — of water
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. capital — money
  12. current — electric
  13. court — of a king
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. rash — hasty
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. court — of law
  19. capital — a city
  20. hand — help
  21. court — for sport
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. game — a match
  24. bark — to shout

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