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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: ruler · hand · wound · file · straw · fan · branch · degree

  1. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. 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. ruler — for measuring
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. hand — help
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. branch — a division
  11. ruler — a monarch
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. file — a tool
  14. wound — an injury
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. file — a document
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. ruler — for measuring
  19. degree — temperature
  20. wound — an injury
  21. file — a line of people
  22. degree — an amount
  23. hand — in cards
  24. 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