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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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  3. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  4. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  5. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. ruler — for measuring
  3. ruler — a monarch
  4. root — the cause
  5. ruler — for measuring
  6. field — a subject
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. root — of a word
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. root — of a plant
  12. scale — in music
  13. tear — to rip
  14. tear — from crying
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. bat — the animal
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. scale — size or range
  19. field — farmland
  20. field — for sport
  21. file — a document
  22. file — a tool
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. file — a line of people

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