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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: press · fall · row · stem · fork · bark · deal · bat

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. Did you ________________ the button?
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  20. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. press — to push
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. press — a publisher
  7. bark — to shout
  8. stem — to come from
  9. row — to paddle
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. fall — to drop
  12. fall — the season
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. row — a line
  16. deal — an agreement
  17. press — newspapers
  18. fall — to drop
  19. deal — to handle
  20. deal — a big deal
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. fork — in a road
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. bat — in an idiom

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