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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  2. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — with a leg
  2. rule — to rule out
  3. tear — from crying
  4. land — ground
  5. rule — government
  6. rule — a law
  7. ground — crushed
  8. ruler — a monarch
  9. land — a country
  10. ground — a position
  11. degree — an amount
  12. land — to come down
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. kick — in football
  15. wax — to grow
  16. degree — from a university
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. kick — a thrill
  19. tear — from crying
  20. ground — the earth
  21. ruler — for measuring
  22. degree — temperature
  23. tear — to rip
  24. ruler — for measuring

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