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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: mine · tear · ball · clip · bark · hide · fork · field

  1. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. The King held a masked ________________.
  11. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. fork — in a road
  3. ball — a great time
  4. clip — for paper
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. field — for sport
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. bark — to shout
  9. field — a subject
  10. ball — a dance
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. hide — animal skin
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. ball — a round shape
  17. tear — from crying
  18. tear — to rip
  19. mine — for digging
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. clip — to cut
  22. field — farmland
  23. clip — a video
  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