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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 120 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: rock · kid · fork · season · face · prune · march · tear

  1. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. tear — from crying
  3. tear — from crying
  4. rock — a stone
  5. prune — to trim
  6. rock — to move gently
  7. tear — to rip
  8. march — the month
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. march — the month
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. rock — music
  14. season — in sport
  15. kid — to tease
  16. prune — to trim
  17. march — music
  18. season — of the year
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. kid — child
  21. face — part of the head
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. face — to confront
  24. fork — in a road

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