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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: root · chest · bark · current · leaves · last · cell · season

  1. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  6. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  7. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  8. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  9. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. Did you ________________ the meat?
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  17. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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. season — of the year
  4. last — final
  5. leaves — of a tree
  6. current — of water
  7. root — of a word
  8. root — of a plant
  9. leaves — to go away
  10. bark — to shout
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. season — to add flavour
  14. cell — in biology
  15. last — to go on
  16. current — electric
  17. leaves — lets stay
  18. chest — a box
  19. root — the cause
  20. cell — a phone
  21. chest — of your body
  22. last — finally
  23. chest — of your body
  24. season — in sport

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