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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: degree · chest · bound · mark · bark · current · spell · wind

  1. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  18. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  19. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  20. That was ________________ to happen.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. spell — magic
  4. mark — a grade
  5. bark — to shout
  6. wind — moving air
  7. current — of water
  8. degree — temperature
  9. chest — of your body
  10. chest — of your body
  11. bound — obliged
  12. degree — from a university
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. spell — a short time
  15. current — electric
  16. degree — an amount
  17. current — happening now
  18. bound — tied together
  19. mark — a trace
  20. bound — certain
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. chest — a box
  23. spell — letters
  24. mark — to pay attention

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