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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  11. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  19. That was ________________ to happen.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. root — of a word
  3. tear — from crying
  4. tear — from crying
  5. net — after costs
  6. root — of a plant
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. prune — to trim
  9. tear — to rip
  10. bound — tied together
  11. bound — obliged
  12. field — a subject
  13. field — farmland
  14. field — for sport
  15. prune — to trim
  16. fall — to drop
  17. net — in sport
  18. root — the cause
  19. bound — certain
  20. fork — in a road
  21. net — for catching
  22. fall — to drop
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. fall — the season

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