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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 116 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: fork · squash · hand · chair · ground · game · ruler · bark

  1. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  21. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. hand — in cards
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. game — wild animals
  6. game — a match
  7. ground — a position
  8. fork — in a road
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. chair — a leader
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. squash — to crush
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. hand — help
  18. bark — to shout
  19. ground — the earth
  20. fork — a garden tool
  21. ruler — a monarch
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. ground — crushed
  24. ruler — for measuring

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