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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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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: cold · chip · wake · march · squash · staff · fork · bark

  1. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  8. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  9. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  12. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  24. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. march — the month
  5. wake — a trail
  6. cold — not warm
  7. chip — for betting
  8. chip — in a computer
  9. chip — to eat
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. staff — employees
  12. staff — a stick
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. fork — in a road
  16. bark — to shout
  17. cold — an illness
  18. squash — to crush
  19. march — music
  20. march — the month
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. staff — employees
  23. squash — the sport
  24. wake — before a funeral

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