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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: bore · kick · date · root · file · spring · wound · fork

  1. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  5. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  6. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  7. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. Have you settled on a ________________?
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  24. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. file — a tool
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. root — of a plant
  5. bore — to tire
  6. date — the fruit
  7. bore — gave birth
  8. file — a document
  9. file — a line of people
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. spring — of water
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. bore — to drill
  15. kick — in football
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. fork — in a road
  19. wound — an injury
  20. wound — an injury
  21. spring — a coil
  22. root — the cause
  23. kick — with a leg
  24. root — of a word

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