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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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Word bank
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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 · cold · spring · squash · file

  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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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. spring — a coil
  4. spring — the season
  5. squash — to crush
  6. ruler — for measuring
  7. spring — of water
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. tear — from crying
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. ruler — a monarch
  12. squash — the sport
  13. cold — not warm
  14. file — a document
  15. file — a line of people
  16. tear — to rip
  17. file — a tool
  18. cold — an illness

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