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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. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. The King held a masked ________________.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. ball — a round shape
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. ground — crushed
  6. squash — the sport
  7. fork — in a road
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. clip — a video
  11. squash — to crush
  12. degree — from a university
  13. ball — a dance
  14. wax — to grow
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. clip — to cut
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. degree — temperature
  20. ground — a position
  21. ground — the earth
  22. ball — a great time
  23. clip — for paper
  24. degree — an amount

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