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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. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. row — a line
  6. bark — to shout
  7. land — to come down
  8. fan — to cool the air
  9. bat — the animal
  10. land — ground
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. race — the arms race
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. pop — music
  16. fork — in a road
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. pop — soda
  19. pop — to visit
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. land — a country
  23. row — to paddle
  24. race — humankind

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