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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: bark · mine · toast · fork · shower · field · ground · club

  1. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

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

Answer key

  1. club — a group
  2. bark — to shout
  3. mine — for digging
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. ground — a position
  6. shower — to wash
  7. fork — in a road
  8. field — for sport
  9. toast — a drink to someone
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. toast — bread
  12. shower — rain
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. field — farmland
  15. ground — the earth
  16. toast — the most admired
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. ground — crushed
  21. club — for golf
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. field — a subject
  24. club — for dancing

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