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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: cold · tear · ruler · bear · coach · field

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  3. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  7. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  14. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Have you met the new head ________________?
  18. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. bear — to put up with
  3. ruler — a monarch
  4. tear — to rip
  5. tear — from crying
  6. bear — the animal
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. field — for sport
  9. bear — the animal
  10. cold — an illness
  11. field — farmland
  12. tear — from crying
  13. coach — pulled by horses
  14. ruler — for measuring
  15. field — a subject
  16. cold — not warm
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. ruler — for measuring

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