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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: ruler · track · roll · rush · kid · present · chest · cold

  1. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  2. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  6. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  7. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. That must've been a ________________.
  10. We're on a ________________ here.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  13. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  17. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  23. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. ruler — for measuring
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. ruler — a monarch
  4. chest — of your body
  5. ruler — for measuring
  6. present — the time now
  7. rush — hurry
  8. cold — not warm
  9. rush — a thrill
  10. roll — on a roll
  11. track — a song
  12. present — a gift
  13. roll — a cake
  14. cold — an illness
  15. kid — to tease
  16. track — a path
  17. present — there
  18. kid — child
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. chest — of your body
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. track — to keep track
  23. roll — a list
  24. chest — a box

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