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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. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  24. A black ________________ roamed the forest.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. bear — the animal
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. branch — a division
  5. last — finally
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. file — a document
  8. file — a tool
  9. last — to go on
  10. tear — from crying
  11. tear — from crying
  12. last — final
  13. file — a line of people
  14. bank — for money
  15. fork — in a road
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. tear — to rip
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. bank — for money
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. bank — of a river
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. bear — to put up with
  24. bear — the animal

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