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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. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  21. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in biology
  2. kid — child
  3. fork — in a road
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. bark — to shout
  6. drill — a practice
  7. object — an aim
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. cell — a phone
  11. kid — to tease
  12. field — farmland
  13. field — for sport
  14. field — a subject
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. scale — size or range
  17. drill — the tool
  18. scale — in music
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. object — a thing
  21. object — to protest
  22. drill — army training
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. scale — for weighing

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