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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: ground · rule · tube · snap · cold · foot · tear · object

  1. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  2. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  3. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  22. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  23. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. object — an aim
  2. foot — the bottom
  3. object — to protest
  4. tear — from crying
  5. ground — a position
  6. cold — not warm
  7. ground — the earth
  8. tear — from crying
  9. tear — to rip
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. tube — the underground
  12. rule — a law
  13. snap — to click
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. tube — a container
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. foot — a measure
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. cold — an illness
  21. rule — government
  22. object — a thing
  23. foot — part of the body
  24. ground — crushed

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