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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: hide · wound · toast · march · patient · fork · tear · root

  1. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  11. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  19. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. march — music
  4. toast — bread
  5. tear — from crying
  6. root — of a word
  7. wound — an injury
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. root — of a plant
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. tear — to rip
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. hide — animal skin
  16. wound — an injury
  17. fork — in a road
  18. root — the cause
  19. toast — a drink to someone
  20. march — the month
  21. toast — the most admired
  22. tear — from crying
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. hide — to keep secret

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