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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. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. bark — to shout
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. net — after costs
  7. coach — pulled by horses
  8. net — in sport
  9. swing — to play on
  10. shower — rain
  11. ground — crushed
  12. ground — the earth
  13. net — for catching
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. content — the amount
  16. fork — in a road
  17. swing — in golf
  18. ground — a position
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. shower — to wash
  21. content — happy
  22. swing — music
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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