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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
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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: current · race · wave · bark · spring · scale · club · cold

  1. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  6. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  7. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  22. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. club — for dancing
  3. scale — in music
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. wave — of the sea
  6. wave — a sudden rise
  7. current — of water
  8. spring — of water
  9. club — a group
  10. spring — the season
  11. race — humankind
  12. cold — an illness
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. race — the arms race
  15. race — a contest
  16. cold — not warm
  17. scale — size or range
  18. bark — to shout
  19. spring — a coil
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. wave — with your hand
  22. current — happening now
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. current — electric

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