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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: coach · ground · current · degree · bark · wake · straw · net

  1. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  20. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  21. Have you met the new head ________________?
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. ground — the earth
  3. current — happening now
  4. ground — crushed
  5. degree — temperature
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. net — for catching
  8. wake — a trail
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. degree — from a university
  12. degree — an amount
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. bark — to shout
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. ground — a position
  19. current — of water
  20. current — electric
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. net — in sport
  24. coach — pulled by horses

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