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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: bank · spring · cold · straw · rule · ruler

  1. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  3. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. ruler — for measuring
  3. bank — of a river
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. rule — government
  6. rule — a law
  7. bank — for money
  8. cold — an illness
  9. ruler — for measuring
  10. spring — the season
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. bank — for money
  14. cold — not warm
  15. ruler — a monarch
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. spring — of water

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