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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: fork · cold · jam · present · bark · face · branch · chair

  1. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  3. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  22. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. branch — of a tree
  3. present — there
  4. face — to point toward
  5. jam — a tight spot
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. face — part of the head
  8. present — the time now
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. cold — an illness
  11. face — to confront
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. cold — not warm
  14. present — a gift
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. fork — in a road
  17. chair — a leader
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. bark — to shout
  21. jam — to spread on bread
  22. jam — in traffic
  23. branch — a division
  24. branch — of a bank

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