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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 · wake · fine · kick · patient · bound · fork · field

  1. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  22. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  23. That was ________________ to happen.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. bound — obliged
  3. field — a subject
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. tear — from crying
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. fork — in a road
  10. wake — a trail
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. field — for sport
  13. fine — a penalty
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. fine — high quality
  16. tear — from crying
  17. fine — all right
  18. field — farmland
  19. kick — in football
  20. tear — to rip
  21. kick — a thrill
  22. bound — tied together
  23. bound — certain
  24. kick — with a leg

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