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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. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. I'll be taking the ________________.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. tear — to rip
  5. fork — in a road
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. fan — to cool the air
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. prune — to trim
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. kid — child
  14. tear — from crying
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. kid — to tease
  17. prune — to trim
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. tube — a container
  20. coach — pulled by horses
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. tube — the underground
  24. tear — from crying

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