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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 116 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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: bark · wound · field · rock · file · staff · last · fork

  1. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  15. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. staff — employees
  3. last — to go on
  4. rock — music
  5. last — final
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. last — finally
  8. rock — a stone
  9. field — for sport
  10. field — farmland
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. bark — to shout
  13. file — a line of people
  14. rock — to move gently
  15. staff — employees
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. file — a document
  18. field — a subject
  19. wound — an injury
  20. staff — a stick
  21. fork — in a road
  22. file — a tool
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. fork — a garden tool

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