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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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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. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. Have you settled on a ________________?
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. spell — letters
  4. mouse — for a computer
  5. spring — the season
  6. spell — magic
  7. fork — in a road
  8. bat — the animal
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. bark — to shout
  12. date — the fruit
  13. stem — to come from
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. spring — of water
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. spring — a coil
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. spell — a short time
  24. mouse — the animal

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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