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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 116 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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  19. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  20. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. fork — in a road
  3. file — a document
  4. club — a group
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. bark — to shout
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. present — the time now
  10. hand — help
  11. race — humankind
  12. file — a tool
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. degree — temperature
  15. race — the arms race
  16. hand — in cards
  17. degree — from a university
  18. club — for golf
  19. club — for dancing
  20. present — there
  21. file — a line of people
  22. degree — an amount
  23. race — a contest
  24. fork — to eat with

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