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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 116 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. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  13. That must've been a ________________.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  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. fork — to eat with
  2. bark — to shout
  3. vault — an arched ceiling
  4. clip — a video
  5. fork — in a road
  6. bear — the animal
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. row — to paddle
  9. vault — in gymnastics
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. rush — hurry
  13. rush — a thrill
  14. row — a line
  15. bear — the animal
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. clip — to cut
  18. bear — to put up with
  19. cold — not warm
  20. cold — an illness
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. clip — for paper
  23. vault — a safe
  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