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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. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  19. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. press — to push
  3. press — a publisher
  4. trunk — of a tree
  5. net — after costs
  6. bark — to shout
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. net — for catching
  13. fork — in a road
  14. press — newspapers
  15. net — in sport
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. bear — the animal
  19. bear — to put up with
  20. cold — not warm
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. cold — an illness
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. bear — the animal

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