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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 120 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. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. last — finally
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. last — to go on
  14. cold — not warm
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. fork — in a road
  18. branch — a division
  19. fan — to cool the air
  20. last — final
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. rush — hurry
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. cold — an illness

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