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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 · race · wave · net · chest

  1. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  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. tear — from crying
  2. race — a contest
  3. race — humankind
  4. tear — to rip
  5. wave — of the sea
  6. net — after costs
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. wave — a sudden rise
  9. chest — of your body
  10. chest — a box
  11. race — the arms race
  12. net — for catching
  13. wave — with your hand
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. net — in sport
  16. chest — of your body
  17. tear — from crying
  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