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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: fork · bark · mine · kick · race · stem · file · plane

  1. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. The ________________ took off on time.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. file — a line of people
  4. plane — an aircraft
  5. file — a tool
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. kick — in football
  8. plane — in geometry
  9. fork — in a road
  10. race — the arms race
  11. file — a document
  12. bark — to shout
  13. race — a contest
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. mine — for digging
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. plane — a tool
  19. race — humankind
  20. fork — a garden tool
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. stem — to come from
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. stem — of a plant

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