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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. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Did you ________________ the button?
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. The tickets are free of ________________.
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. face — to point toward
  3. ground — the earth
  4. bark — to shout
  5. ground — crushed
  6. cold — an illness
  7. press — to push
  8. face — to confront
  9. charge — electricity
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. cold — not warm
  13. press — newspapers
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. face — part of the head
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. fork — in a road
  18. ground — a position
  19. press — a publisher
  20. branch — a division
  21. charge — a price
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. charge — in control

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