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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 124 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: degree · mate · race · wind · bark · fork · board · row

  1. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. Have you found your soul ________________?
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. mate — a friend
  3. board — a flat piece
  4. bark — to shout
  5. board — to get on
  6. degree — from a university
  7. mate — to breed
  8. race — humankind
  9. wind — moving air
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. wind — moving air
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. race — a contest
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. fork — in a road
  16. race — the arms race
  17. degree — temperature
  18. row — to paddle
  19. mate — a partner
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. row — a line
  22. degree — an amount
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. board — a committee

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