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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. wake — a trail
  3. tube — the underground
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. fork — in a road
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. cold — not warm
  10. field — for sport
  11. bark — to shout
  12. field — a subject
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. tube — a container
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. cold — an illness
  17. fork — a garden tool
  18. field — farmland

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