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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. branch — a division
  4. rock — a stone
  5. band — a ring
  6. fork — in a road
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. rock — to move gently
  9. tear — from crying
  10. tear — to rip
  11. rock — music
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. tube — the underground
  14. kid — child
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. fork — a garden tool
  18. shower — to wash
  19. tube — a container
  20. band — a music group
  21. tear — from crying
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. shower — rain

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