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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 · wound · rule · chip · cap · fork

  1. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  8. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  18. 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. fork — to eat with
  2. tear — from crying
  3. tear — from crying
  4. cap — a hat
  5. wound — an injury
  6. cap — of ice
  7. rule — government
  8. chip — in a computer
  9. cap — a lid
  10. chip — to eat
  11. wound — an injury
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. tear — to rip
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. chip — for betting
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. rule — a law
  18. 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