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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: bark · band · current · bear · shower · key · ground · stem

  1. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  2. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  5. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. This piece is in a major ________________.
  9. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.

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

Answer key

  1. current — of water
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. current — electric
  5. bear — the animal
  6. ground — the earth
  7. band — a ring
  8. key — in music
  9. key — for a lock
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. bark — to shout
  12. key — the most important part
  13. stem — to come from
  14. ground — crushed
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. band — a music group
  17. bear — to put up with
  18. shower — rain
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. bear — the animal
  21. shower — to wash
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. ground — a position
  24. current — happening now

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