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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: prune · fork · wound · kid · rash · row · stand · capital

  1. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. I can't ________________ this cold.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — in a road
  2. wound — an injury
  3. wound — an injury
  4. capital — money
  5. capital — a city
  6. prune — to trim
  7. kid — to tease
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. rash — a series
  11. prune — to trim
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. stand — for spectators
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. kid — child
  18. rash — hasty
  19. stand — to bear
  20. row — a line
  21. rash — on the skin
  22. row — to paddle
  23. stand — on your feet
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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