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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: ruler · tear · cold · spring · squash · file · wax · present

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. 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. cold — not warm
  2. file — a document
  3. present — there
  4. wax — to grow
  5. ruler — for measuring
  6. squash — to crush
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. file — a line of people
  9. cold — an illness
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. ruler — for measuring
  12. file — a tool
  13. tear — to rip
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. squash — the sport
  17. ruler — a monarch
  18. spring — the season
  19. spring — a coil
  20. present — a gift
  21. tear — from crying
  22. tear — from crying
  23. present — the time now
  24. 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