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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. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  6. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  18. Where did you ________________ them?
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  21. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  22. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  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. fork — to eat with
  2. stem — a stem cell
  3. tear — from crying
  4. wound — an injury
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. pound — to hit hard
  7. degree — an amount
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. wound — an injury
  10. degree — from a university
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. fork — in a road
  13. tear — to rip
  14. pound — a weight
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. stem — to come from
  17. mug — a face
  18. mug — to rob
  19. degree — temperature
  20. calf — of the leg
  21. mug — a cup
  22. fork — a garden tool
  23. tear — from crying
  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