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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. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  12. The ________________ went through the wall.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. file — a tool
  3. face — to confront
  4. tear — from crying
  5. face — to point toward
  6. file — a line of people
  7. fork — in a road
  8. spring — a coil
  9. tear — from crying
  10. stock — shares
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. face — part of the head
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. fork — a garden tool
  18. tear — to rip
  19. file — a document
  20. spring — of water
  21. bat — the animal
  22. nail — on a finger
  23. spring — the season
  24. stock — goods

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