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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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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: cold · ruler · bark · march · craft · shower · fork · mate

  1. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  3. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  9. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  13. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. craft — a skill
  3. fork — in a road
  4. shower — to wash
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. craft — boats
  7. cold — an illness
  8. craft — a handicraft
  9. ruler — for measuring
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. mate — a friend
  13. ruler — for measuring
  14. mate — a partner
  15. march — music
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. march — the month
  18. bark — to shout
  19. ruler — a monarch
  20. cold — not warm
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. shower — rain
  24. march — the month

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