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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. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. bass — the fish
  3. toast — a drink to someone
  4. ground — crushed
  5. row — a line
  6. saw — the tool
  7. sharp — clever
  8. fork — in a road
  9. bass — low music
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. toast — the most admired
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. ground — a position
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. toast — bread
  18. saw — the tool
  19. row — to paddle
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. fork — a garden tool
  22. ground — the earth
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. bark — of a tree

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