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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. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  6. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. game — a match
  4. rush — hurry
  5. rush — to hurry
  6. pound — to hit hard
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. spell — magic
  9. spell — a short time
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. bark — to shout
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. fork — in a road
  17. pound — a weight
  18. tube — a container
  19. branch — a division
  20. tube — the underground
  21. pound — for dogs
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. game — wild animals

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