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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: fork · face · temple · ground · bark · branch · tear · deal

  1. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. When was this ________________ built?
  3. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  4. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  5. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. deal — a big deal
  5. deal — to handle
  6. tear — from crying
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. face — to confront
  9. tear — to rip
  10. branch — a division
  11. ground — crushed
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. face — part of the head
  15. fork — in a road
  16. temple — side of the head
  17. ground — the earth
  18. tear — from crying
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. ground — a position
  21. bark — to shout
  22. face — to point toward
  23. deal — an agreement
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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