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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: stem · present · fork · prune · kid · wound · bore · tear

  1. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. bore — to drill
  6. wound — an injury
  7. tear — from crying
  8. tear — from crying
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. tear — to rip
  12. wound — an injury
  13. prune — to trim
  14. bore — gave birth
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. kid — child
  17. fork — in a road
  18. kid — to tease
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. prune — to trim
  21. present — there
  22. bore — to tire
  23. stem — to come from
  24. present — the time now

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