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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: row · leaves · jam · cold · mark · fork · tear · field

  1. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  3. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  4. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  5. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  15. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  24. The ________________ change colour in autumn.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. jam — to spread on bread
  3. jam — in traffic
  4. mark — a grade
  5. jam — a tight spot
  6. row — to paddle
  7. cold — an illness
  8. mark — to pay attention
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. field — for sport
  11. tear — from crying
  12. fork — in a road
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. leaves — to go away
  15. leaves — lets stay
  16. row — a line
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. fork — a garden tool
  19. cold — not warm
  20. tear — from crying
  21. field — farmland
  22. field — a subject
  23. mark — a trace
  24. leaves — of a tree

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