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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: mine · tear · object · race · band · plane · patient · fork

  1. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. The ________________ took off on time.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  19. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. plane — an aircraft
  3. mine — for digging
  4. tear — from crying
  5. race — humankind
  6. band — a music group
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. object — to protest
  9. tear — to rip
  10. fork — in a road
  11. band — a ring
  12. race — the arms race
  13. plane — in geometry
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. object — an aim
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. patient — calm and waiting
  19. object — a thing
  20. tear — from crying
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. plane — a tool
  24. race — a contest

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