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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 · fall · kick · pitcher · kid

  1. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. tear — to rip
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. fall — to drop
  7. tear — from crying
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. tear — from crying
  13. kid — child
  14. fall — to drop
  15. kick — in football
  16. kid — to tease
  17. fork — in a road
  18. fall — the season

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