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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: wind · fork · lash · scale · staff · bark · straw · current

  1. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  7. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  8. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  9. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. current — happening now
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. lash — a whip stroke
  5. wind — moving air
  6. lash — to lash out
  7. current — electric
  8. lash — an eyelash
  9. staff — a stick
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. scale — in music
  12. staff — employees
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. scale — size or range
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. staff — employees
  19. wind — moving air
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. current — of water
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. bark — to shout
  24. fork — in a road

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