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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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. ground — a position
  3. object — to protest
  4. scale — in music
  5. ground — the earth
  6. scale — size or range
  7. bark — to shout
  8. object — a thing
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. fork — in a road
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. ground — crushed
  14. kid — child
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. tear — from crying
  17. tear — to rip
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. kid — to tease
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. object — an aim
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. branch — a division
  24. branch — of a bank

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