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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 120 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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: court · bark · fan · cue · fork · drill · craft · degree

  1. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  12. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  13. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  20. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  24. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. drill — the tool
  3. drill — army training
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. court — for sport
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. court — of law
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. bark — to shout
  10. drill — a practice
  11. craft — a skill
  12. cue — for pool
  13. cue — a signal
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. court — of a king
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. degree — an amount
  18. fork — in a road
  19. cue — a hint
  20. craft — a handicraft
  21. degree — temperature
  22. degree — from a university
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. craft — boats

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