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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. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. land — to come down
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. prune — to trim
  5. saw — the tool
  6. root — the cause
  7. tear — from crying
  8. prune — to trim
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. land — ground
  11. tear — to rip
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. root — of a word
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. band — a ring
  16. tear — from crying
  17. band — a music group
  18. land — a country
  19. patient — calm and waiting
  20. root — of a plant
  21. fork — in a road
  22. saw — the tool
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. band — a rubber band

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