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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 · lie · current · race · court · trunk · patient · fork

  1. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  9. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  12. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. lie — an untruth
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. court — for sport
  4. race — a contest
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. court — of law
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. current — electric
  9. lie — to recline
  10. tear — to rip
  11. current — of water
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. tear — from crying
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. race — humankind
  16. current — happening now
  17. race — the arms race
  18. court — of a king
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. fork — in a road
  23. patient — calm and waiting
  24. tear — from crying

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