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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.

Make a worksheet

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
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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: dip · perch · fork · cold · mine · spell · bark · trunk

  1. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. spell — letters
  3. spell — magic
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. cold — not warm
  6. spell — a short time
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. dip — a sauce
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. fork — in a road
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. dip — to dunk
  14. cold — an illness
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. bark — to shout
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. mine — for digging
  22. perch — the fish
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. dip — to sink

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