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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 120 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. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  10. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in biology
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. ground — the earth
  5. season — in sport
  6. file — a tool
  7. ground — a position
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. season — of the year
  10. pit — a fruit stone
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. spring — a coil
  13. cell — a phone
  14. file — a line of people
  15. pit — in a race
  16. spring — of water
  17. ground — crushed
  18. pit — a hole
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. file — a document
  21. fork — in a road
  22. bark — to shout
  23. spring — the season
  24. fork — to eat with

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