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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. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. We're on a ________________ here.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a committee
  2. spring — a coil
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. spring — the season
  5. race — a contest
  6. sharp — clever
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. roll — a list
  10. race — humankind
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. bat — the animal
  14. board — a flat piece
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. fork — in a road
  17. board — to get on
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. roll — on a roll
  20. bark — to shout
  21. roll — a cake
  22. race — the arms race
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. spring — of water

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