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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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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: shower · fork · key · wake · fine · tear · mine · file

  1. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  17. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. This piece is in a major ________________.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. key — the most important part
  3. file — a line of people
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. shower — to wash
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. tear — from crying
  8. file — a tool
  9. mine — for digging
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. file — a document
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. fork — in a road
  14. wake — a trail
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. fine — a penalty
  17. fine — high quality
  18. tear — to rip
  19. key — in music
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. shower — rain
  23. tear — from crying
  24. key — for a lock

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