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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.

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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: bark · plane · row · bear · spring · fork · deal · bat

  1. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  6. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  10. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. The ________________ took off on time.
  23. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  24. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. bear — to put up with
  6. bear — the animal
  7. row — a line
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. plane — a tool
  10. deal — an agreement
  11. bat — the animal
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. spring — of water
  15. row — to paddle
  16. bark — to shout
  17. deal — a big deal
  18. spring — the season
  19. spring — a coil
  20. deal — to handle
  21. fork — in a road
  22. plane — an aircraft
  23. bear — the animal
  24. plane — in geometry

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