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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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Word bank
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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: wound · racket · tear · cell · wind · fork

  1. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. cell — in biology
  3. cell — a phone
  4. wound — an injury
  5. tear — to rip
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. tear — from crying
  8. wind — moving air
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. fork — in a road
  13. wind — moving air
  14. tear — from crying
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. racket — a loud noise
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. wound — an injury

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