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

  1. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  2. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  3. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  15. My mare is ________________ in color.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. ruler — for measuring
  2. scale — in music
  3. ruler — a monarch
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. degree — an amount
  7. band — a music group
  8. bay — to keep at bay
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. band — a ring
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. row — a line
  13. degree — from a university
  14. ruler — for measuring
  15. bay — a horse colour
  16. cold — not warm
  17. degree — temperature
  18. bay — a part of the sea
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. shower — rain
  21. shower — to wash
  22. scale — size or range
  23. cold — an illness
  24. row — to paddle

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