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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: bore · chest · bark · clip · fork · current · rash · race

  1. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  2. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to tire
  2. current — electric
  3. chest — of your body
  4. current — happening now
  5. rash — a series
  6. race — a contest
  7. bore — gave birth
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. chest — a box
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. bark — to shout
  12. rash — hasty
  13. current — of water
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. bore — to drill
  16. chest — of your body
  17. race — humankind
  18. race — the arms race
  19. clip — to cut
  20. fork — in a road
  21. clip — for paper
  22. clip — a video
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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