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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 · root · band · coach · bark · wake · fork · cold

  1. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  8. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  9. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  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. coach — pulled by horses
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. wake — a trail
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. bark — to shout
  7. current — of water
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. root — of a word
  10. cold — not warm
  11. current — electric
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. band — a ring
  15. band — a music group
  16. root — the cause
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. root — of a plant
  20. fork — in a road
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. fork — a garden tool
  23. cold — an illness
  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