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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: bark · temple · clip · jam · cold · coach · spring · current

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  6. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  7. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. When was this ________________ built?
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  21. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  22. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  23. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  24. Let us try to swim against the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. cold — an illness
  3. jam — in traffic
  4. spring — of water
  5. current — electric
  6. jam — a tight spot
  7. current — happening now
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. clip — to cut
  12. clip — for paper
  13. spring — the season
  14. spring — a coil
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. clip — a video
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. bark — to shout
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. temple — side of the head
  22. temple — a place of worship
  23. jam — to spread on bread
  24. current — of water

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