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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: cold · plane · track · spring · stem · tear · ruler · arm

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  5. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  8. The ________________ took off on time.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  17. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  18. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  21. My father caught me by the ________________.
  22. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. spring — a coil
  4. stem — a stem cell
  5. stem — of a plant
  6. cold — not warm
  7. ruler — a monarch
  8. plane — an aircraft
  9. track — to keep track
  10. tear — from crying
  11. ruler — for measuring
  12. spring — the season
  13. ruler — for measuring
  14. spring — of water
  15. track — a path
  16. plane — in geometry
  17. plane — a tool
  18. track — a song
  19. stem — to come from
  20. arm — a part of something
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. tear — to rip
  24. cold — an illness

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