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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 116 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: press · land · craft · saw · fork · pound · row · tear

  1. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  13. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. row — a line
  3. saw — past of 'see'
  4. tear — from crying
  5. press — newspapers
  6. press — to push
  7. craft — a skill
  8. saw — the tool
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. pound — a weight
  12. press — a publisher
  13. craft — a handicraft
  14. tear — from crying
  15. craft — boats
  16. land — to come down
  17. saw — the tool
  18. tear — to rip
  19. fork — in a road
  20. land — ground
  21. land — a country
  22. pound — to hit hard
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. row — to paddle

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