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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: net · cold · bark · fall · scale · bat · present · current

  1. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  17. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. present — there
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. cold — an illness
  5. current — of water
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. net — for catching
  8. fall — to drop
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. fall — the season
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. bark — to shout
  13. cold — not warm
  14. present — the time now
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. current — electric
  17. current — happening now
  18. bat — the animal
  19. scale — in music
  20. net — in sport
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. fall — to drop
  23. present — a gift
  24. scale — size or range

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