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

Word bank: field · game · bark · key · snap · fork · rest · drill

  1. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. This piece is in a major ________________.
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. Hard work is the ________________ to success.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. rest — what's left
  5. fork — in a road
  6. rest — a break
  7. game — a match
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. game — wild animals
  10. drill — army training
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. key — in music
  13. rest — what's left
  14. snap — to click
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. bark — to shout
  17. field — a subject
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. key — for a lock
  20. field — for sport
  21. drill — a practice
  22. field — farmland
  23. drill — the tool
  24. key — the most important part

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