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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. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  11. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  17. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  18. Have you settled on a ________________?
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. track — a path
  5. fork — in a road
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. game — wild animals
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. shower — rain
  10. date — the fruit
  11. ball — a round shape
  12. ball — a dance
  13. wound — an injury
  14. ball — a great time
  15. track — a song
  16. track — to keep track
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. bark — to shout
  21. wound — an injury
  22. game — a match
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. shower — to wash

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