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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 usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  9. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. We're on a ________________ here.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. rock — to move gently
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. rock — a stone
  9. roll — a list
  10. field — farmland
  11. bark — to shout
  12. perch — the fish
  13. roll — on a roll
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. mine — for digging
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. roll — a cake
  19. field — for sport
  20. band — a music group
  21. band — a ring
  22. field — a subject
  23. rock — music
  24. fork — in a road

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