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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: chest · shower · fork · wake · tear · face · march · bank

  1. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. chest — of your body
  3. tear — from crying
  4. shower — to wash
  5. face — to confront
  6. shower — rain
  7. wake — a trail
  8. march — music
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. bank — of a river
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. face — to point toward
  13. fork — in a road
  14. march — the month
  15. tear — from crying
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. bank — for money
  18. tear — to rip
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. march — the month
  21. face — part of the head
  22. chest — of your body
  23. chest — a box
  24. bank — for money

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