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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. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  2. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  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 — in a road
  2. row — to paddle
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. club — a group
  5. cold — not warm
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. game — a match
  9. game — wild animals
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. squash — to crush
  12. squash — the sport
  13. club — for golf
  14. bark — to shout
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. club — for dancing
  17. cold — an illness
  18. row — a line
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. mine — for digging
  21. fork — a garden tool
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. fork — to eat with
  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