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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: tear · fork · last · jam · spring · bark · wound · cell

  1. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  6. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  7. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. cell — a phone
  3. tear — from crying
  4. tear — to rip
  5. jam — to spread on bread
  6. jam — in traffic
  7. jam — a tight spot
  8. spring — the season
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. wound — an injury
  11. tear — from crying
  12. last — to go on
  13. spring — of water
  14. last — final
  15. fork — in a road
  16. spring — a coil
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. fork — a garden tool
  19. bark — to shout
  20. last — finally
  21. wound — an injury
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. cell — in biology

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