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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: toast · game · lie · fork · stem · band · tear · row

  1. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  15. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. tear — from crying
  3. row — a line
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. game — a match
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. stem — to come from
  8. toast — the most admired
  9. band — a music group
  10. toast — bread
  11. tear — from crying
  12. toast — a drink to someone
  13. band — a ring
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. lie — to recline
  16. fork — in a road
  17. row — to paddle
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. game — wild animals
  20. tear — to rip
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. game — a kind of play

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