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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: press · rash · pop · last · bark · field · fork · clip

  1. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  4. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. Did you ________________ the button?
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. We're almost out of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. field — a subject
  3. fork — in a road
  4. rash — a series
  5. clip — to cut
  6. pop — to visit
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. clip — a video
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. clip — for paper
  12. last — final
  13. press — newspapers
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. last — finally
  16. press — to push
  17. bark — to shout
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. press — a publisher
  20. last — to go on
  21. field — for sport
  22. pop — music
  23. field — farmland
  24. pop — soda

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