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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 116 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: racket · prune · tear · shower · wound · object · cold · fork

  1. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  15. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. prune — to trim
  3. object — to protest
  4. tear — to rip
  5. shower — rain
  6. prune — to trim
  7. object — a thing
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. cold — not warm
  11. shower — to wash
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. cold — an illness
  14. object — an aim
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. tear — from crying
  18. racket — a loud noise
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. fork — in a road
  21. wound — an injury
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. tear — from crying
  24. wound — an injury

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