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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: hand · bat · fork · tear · land · mark · stick · prune

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. hand — in cards
  4. land — a country
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. land — ground
  7. fork — in a road
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. tear — from crying
  10. mark — to pay attention
  11. tear — to rip
  12. mark — a grade
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. tear — from crying
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. land — to come down
  18. stick — to attach or keep to
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. mark — a trace
  21. prune — to trim
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. prune — to trim
  24. hand — help

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