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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: present · ground · degree · ruler · tear · file · clip · band

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. file — a document
  3. tear — from crying
  4. ruler — for measuring
  5. clip — to cut
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. ground — the earth
  8. ruler — a monarch
  9. degree — an amount
  10. ground — crushed
  11. degree — temperature
  12. ruler — for measuring
  13. file — a line of people
  14. present — a gift
  15. band — a music group
  16. tear — to rip
  17. file — a tool
  18. present — the time now
  19. present — there
  20. clip — for paper
  21. clip — a video
  22. tear — from crying
  23. degree — from a university
  24. ground — a position

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