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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: pound · tear · march · wake · cue · fork

  1. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. march — the month
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. tear — to rip
  6. march — music
  7. wake — a trail
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. cue — for pool
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. march — the month
  13. fork — in a road
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. tear — from crying
  16. tear — from crying
  17. pound — a weight
  18. cue — a signal

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