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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: tear · fork · lean · cold · tube · wind

  1. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. tear — from crying
  3. tube — a container
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. lean — thin
  6. tube — the underground
  7. fork — in a road
  8. lean — to rest against
  9. tear — to rip
  10. lean — to bend
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. tear — from crying
  13. cold — an illness
  14. wind — moving air
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. cold — not warm
  17. wind — moving air
  18. cold — the Cold War

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