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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. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  7. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  17. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. The ________________ took off on time.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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. pound — for dogs
  4. craft — a handicraft
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. pound — a weight
  7. craft — a skill
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. clip — a video
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. plane — in geometry
  12. wound — an injury
  13. clip — to cut
  14. clip — for paper
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. craft — boats
  17. plane — a tool
  18. tear — from crying
  19. plane — an aircraft
  20. wound — an injury
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. tear — to rip
  23. pound — to hit hard
  24. fork — in a road

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