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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. This piece is in a major ________________.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  23. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. field — farmland
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. shower — rain
  7. field — for sport
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. wind — moving air
  10. fork — in a road
  11. key — in music
  12. field — a subject
  13. squash — to crush
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. wind — moving air
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. chair — a leader
  18. squash — the sport
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. shower — to wash
  22. key — the most important part
  23. key — for a lock
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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