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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 116 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 · file · march · racket · swing

  1. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. march — the month
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. tear — to rip
  7. file — a document
  8. file — a tool
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. swing — music
  11. tear — from crying
  12. fork — in a road
  13. march — the month
  14. march — music
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. swing — to play on
  17. swing — in golf
  18. file — a line of people

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