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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: mark · trunk · cold · march · craft · fork · file · tear

  1. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  2. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  6. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  21. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a tree
  2. craft — boats
  3. cold — an illness
  4. march — music
  5. craft — a skill
  6. mark — a grade
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. file — a line of people
  10. mark — a trace
  11. tear — from crying
  12. craft — a handicraft
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. fork — in a road
  15. tear — to rip
  16. file — a document
  17. march — the month
  18. cold — not warm
  19. tear — from crying
  20. mark — to pay attention
  21. fork — a garden tool
  22. march — the month
  23. file — a tool
  24. cold — the Cold War

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