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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: pit · hand · tear · patient · fork · rule

  1. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  10. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. tear — from crying
  4. fork — in a road
  5. hand — help
  6. hand — in cards
  7. rule — to rule out
  8. tear — from crying
  9. pit — in a race
  10. rule — government
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. rule — a law
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. pit — a hole
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. tear — to rip

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