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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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Word bank
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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: tear · fork · track · saw · land · lash · date · bat

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  3. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. Have you settled on a ________________?
  9. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  21. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. fork — in a road
  3. lash — to lash out
  4. land — to come down
  5. lash — an eyelash
  6. tear — from crying
  7. track — a song
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. track — a path
  10. land — a country
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. track — to keep track
  13. tear — from crying
  14. saw — the tool
  15. tear — to rip
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. fork — a garden tool
  18. bat — the animal
  19. saw — the tool
  20. lash — a whip stroke
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. date — the fruit

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