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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. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. cold — not warm
  6. shower — to wash
  7. fork — in a road
  8. tear — to rip
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. shower — rain
  11. ruler — for measuring
  12. tear — from crying
  13. ruler — for measuring
  14. row — a line
  15. track — to keep track
  16. track — a path
  17. tear — from crying
  18. ruler — a monarch
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. band — a ring
  21. band — a music group
  22. cold — an illness
  23. row — to paddle
  24. track — a song

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