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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 116 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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. stock — shares
  5. field — for sport
  6. spring — the season
  7. spring — of water
  8. field — farmland
  9. net — for catching
  10. root — the cause
  11. stock — goods
  12. net — in sport
  13. fork — in a road
  14. tear — to rip
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. root — of a word
  17. net — after costs
  18. spring — a coil
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. branch — a division
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. tear — from crying
  23. root — of a plant
  24. field — a subject

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