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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 · degree · tear · band · net · shower

  1. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. band — a music group
  3. tear — to rip
  4. ruler — for measuring
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. band — a ring
  7. net — in sport
  8. net — for catching
  9. shower — to wash
  10. shower — rain
  11. degree — temperature
  12. ruler — a monarch
  13. degree — an amount
  14. tear — from crying
  15. degree — from a university
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. ruler — for measuring
  18. net — after costs

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