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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: fine · tear · cell · field · ruler · capital · degree · land

  1. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  12. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  22. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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. tear — from crying
  4. tear — to rip
  5. capital — money
  6. land — to come down
  7. field — farmland
  8. degree — temperature
  9. cell — a phone
  10. field — a subject
  11. fine — a penalty
  12. ruler — for measuring
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. capital — a city
  15. fine — all right
  16. degree — an amount
  17. field — for sport
  18. land — ground
  19. degree — from a university
  20. land — a country
  21. ruler — a monarch
  22. fine — high quality
  23. cell — in biology
  24. capital — a big letter

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