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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 116 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: file · hand · court · ruler · degree · tear

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. file — a document
  3. hand — in cards
  4. court — of law
  5. ruler — a monarch
  6. tear — from crying
  7. tear — from crying
  8. tear — to rip
  9. file — a line of people
  10. ruler — for measuring
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. court — of a king
  13. ruler — for measuring
  14. court — for sport
  15. degree — an amount
  16. degree — temperature
  17. file — a tool
  18. degree — from a university

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