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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: fork · branch · snap · root · drill · band · kid · tear

  1. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. drill — army training
  3. band — a music group
  4. root — of a word
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. kid — child
  8. fork — in a road
  9. tear — from crying
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. tear — to rip
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. snap — to click
  15. root — the cause
  16. drill — a practice
  17. tear — from crying
  18. root — of a plant
  19. branch — a division
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. kid — to tease
  22. band — a ring
  23. drill — the tool
  24. fork — a garden tool

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