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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: tear · file · wound · land · pop · spring · ruler · deal

  1. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. pop — music
  3. deal — to handle
  4. wound — an injury
  5. tear — from crying
  6. spring — the season
  7. pop — to visit
  8. file — a document
  9. ruler — a monarch
  10. spring — of water
  11. land — to come down
  12. land — a country
  13. spring — a coil
  14. deal — an agreement
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. pop — soda
  17. tear — from crying
  18. deal — a big deal
  19. land — ground
  20. ruler — for measuring
  21. tear — to rip
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. wound — an injury
  24. file — a tool

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