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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 120 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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  13. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. row — a line
  3. pass — a permit
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. tear — to rip
  6. rock — music
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. tear — from crying
  10. file — a line of people
  11. file — a document
  12. rock — a stone
  13. pass — to succeed
  14. tear — from crying
  15. fork — in a road
  16. row — to paddle
  17. root — of a plant
  18. rock — to move gently
  19. file — a tool
  20. root — the cause
  21. root — of a word
  22. wound — an injury
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. pass — to spend time

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