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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: nail · tear · fall · fork · season · bat · wind · tube

  1. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  19. The ________________ went through the wall.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. tear — to rip
  4. tear — from crying
  5. season — in sport
  6. fall — to drop
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. tear — from crying
  10. fork — in a road
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. fall — to drop
  14. tube — the underground
  15. season — of the year
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. wind — moving air
  18. nail — on a finger
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. fall — the season
  21. bat — the animal
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. wind — moving air
  24. nail — for a hammer

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