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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: patient · date · bark · rule · cold · court · fork · mark

  1. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  5. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  6. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. Have you settled on a ________________?
  12. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  21. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. cold — an illness
  3. court — of law
  4. rule — to rule out
  5. mark — a grade
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. rule — government
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. date — the fruit
  13. court — of a king
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. bark — to shout
  16. rule — a law
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. court — for sport
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. mark — to pay attention
  21. mark — a trace
  22. fork — in a road
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. cold — not warm

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