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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: fork · wind · fine · mine · band · wound · tear · season

  1. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  21. Did you ________________ the meat?
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. mine — for digging
  4. tear — from crying
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. season — in sport
  7. tear — to rip
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. band — a ring
  10. fine — all right
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. wind — moving air
  14. wound — an injury
  15. tear — from crying
  16. fork — in a road
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. wind — moving air
  19. band — a music group
  20. fine — a penalty
  21. season — to add flavour
  22. wound — an injury
  23. season — of the year
  24. mine — an explosive

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