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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 120 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: tube · hand · degree · bark · fork · spring · drill · bulb

  1. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. I've got to change the light ________________.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. The light ________________ burned out.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — army training
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. spring — of water
  4. fork — in a road
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. bulb — of a plant
  7. spring — the season
  8. tube — the underground
  9. drill — the tool
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. bark — to shout
  13. drill — a practice
  14. tube — a container
  15. hand — in cards
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. hand — help
  18. bulb — for light
  19. spring — a coil
  20. degree — an amount
  21. degree — temperature
  22. bulb — for light
  23. degree — from a university
  24. fork — to eat with

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