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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: straw · coach · tear · land · fork · rule

  1. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. land — a country
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. rule — government
  6. tear — from crying
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. land — to come down
  9. fork — in a road
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. rule — a law
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. tear — from crying
  17. land — ground
  18. straw — a straw man

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