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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. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. The King held a masked ________________.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. drill — a practice
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. ball — a great time
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. press — to push
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. squash — the sport
  9. file — a line of people
  10. ball — a dance
  11. fork — in a road
  12. degree — an amount
  13. press — a publisher
  14. degree — from a university
  15. drill — the tool
  16. file — a document
  17. drill — army training
  18. squash — to crush
  19. degree — temperature
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. file — a tool
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. press — newspapers
  24. bark — to shout

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