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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: face · bark · roll · row · fork · date · clip · foot

  1. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  2. Have you settled on a ________________?
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. We're on a ________________ here.
  11. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a list
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. foot — a measure
  5. clip — a video
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. face — to confront
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. roll — on a roll
  11. foot — part of the body
  12. bark — to shout
  13. face — to point toward
  14. row — to paddle
  15. roll — a cake
  16. clip — to cut
  17. row — a line
  18. clip — for paper
  19. foot — the bottom
  20. fork — in a road
  21. face — part of the head
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. date — the fruit
  24. bark — of a tree

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