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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: bark · present · fork · degree · game · swing · cell · temple

  1. When was this ________________ built?
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  18. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. cell — in biology
  3. fork — in a road
  4. present — a gift
  5. present — there
  6. cell — a phone
  7. swing — in golf
  8. degree — an amount
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. bark — to shout
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. swing — to play on
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. game — a match
  16. degree — from a university
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. fork — a garden tool
  19. game — wild animals
  20. present — the time now
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. degree — temperature
  23. temple — side of the head
  24. swing — music

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