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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: fall · tear · march · degree · ruler · snap · current · cold

  1. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  24. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.

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

Answer key

  1. current — happening now
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. ruler — a monarch
  4. march — the month
  5. degree — from a university
  6. snap — to click
  7. march — the month
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. ruler — for measuring
  10. fall — to drop
  11. tear — from crying
  12. current — of water
  13. march — music
  14. tear — to rip
  15. tear — from crying
  16. fall — to drop
  17. fall — the season
  18. cold — not warm
  19. degree — temperature
  20. degree — an amount
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. cold — an illness
  23. current — electric
  24. 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