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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: ruler · tear · ground · last · cold · wave

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  10. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  16. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. last — finally
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. ground — crushed
  5. ruler — a monarch
  6. tear — to rip
  7. ground — a position
  8. cold — an illness
  9. wave — with your hand
  10. ruler — for measuring
  11. last — to go on
  12. wave — of the sea
  13. tear — from crying
  14. last — final
  15. wave — a sudden rise
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. tear — from crying
  18. ground — the earth

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