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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: vault · bound · drill · kid · tear · fork · can · wound

  1. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. That was ________________ to happen.
  18. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  19. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  20. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  24. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. can — to be able to
  3. wound — an injury
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. tear — to rip
  6. tear — from crying
  7. drill — a practice
  8. kid — to tease
  9. drill — the tool
  10. wound — an injury
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. kid — child
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. can — a tin
  15. bound — tied together
  16. drill — army training
  17. bound — certain
  18. vault — a safe
  19. can — a tin
  20. bound — obliged
  21. tear — from crying
  22. fork — in a road
  23. vault — in gymnastics
  24. vault — an arched ceiling

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