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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 · tear · drill · snap · fine · land · cell · degree

  1. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  6. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  7. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  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. fine — high quality
  2. tear — to rip
  3. drill — a practice
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. ruler — a monarch
  6. fine — a penalty
  7. ruler — for measuring
  8. land — to come down
  9. fine — all right
  10. snap — to click
  11. degree — temperature
  12. degree — an amount
  13. land — ground
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. cell — a phone
  16. drill — army training
  17. cell — in biology
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. tear — from crying
  20. degree — from a university
  21. tear — from crying
  22. land — a country
  23. drill — the tool
  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