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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: spell · bear · fine · rule · bark · spring · fork · chest

  1. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  3. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  14. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. fine — high quality
  3. rule — to rule out
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. bark — to shout
  6. chest — a box
  7. rule — government
  8. spring — of water
  9. spell — magic
  10. rule — a law
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. spring — the season
  13. bear — the animal
  14. bear — to put up with
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. spell — a short time
  17. fine — a penalty
  18. spell — letters
  19. chest — of your body
  20. bear — the animal
  21. chest — of your body
  22. spring — a coil
  23. fork — in a road
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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