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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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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 · bound · current · root · rule · kid · ruler · degree

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  5. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  8. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  9. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  14. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  15. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  19. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  20. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. ruler — a monarch
  3. kid — child
  4. current — happening now
  5. bound — tied together
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. ruler — for measuring
  8. rule — a law
  9. current — electric
  10. bound — obliged
  11. degree — temperature
  12. degree — an amount
  13. root — of a plant
  14. root — of a word
  15. rule — to rule out
  16. cold — an illness
  17. rule — government
  18. root — the cause
  19. ruler — for measuring
  20. current — of water
  21. degree — from a university
  22. bound — certain
  23. cold — not warm
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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