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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: rule · wound · tear · tube · chest · degree

  1. I'll be taking the ________________.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. chest — of your body
  3. chest — a box
  4. wound — an injury
  5. degree — temperature
  6. tear — from crying
  7. tear — to rip
  8. rule — government
  9. wound — an injury
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. degree — an amount
  12. tear — from crying
  13. tube — a container
  14. degree — from a university
  15. chest — of your body
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. rule — a law

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