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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: tear · race · sharp · ruler · prune · jam · bat · hand

  1. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  3. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. ruler — a monarch
  3. ruler — for measuring
  4. hand — help
  5. tear — from crying
  6. ruler — for measuring
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. jam — to spread on bread
  9. tear — to rip
  10. tear — from crying
  11. race — a contest
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. prune — to trim
  15. bat — the animal
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. jam — a tight spot
  18. hand — in cards
  19. prune — to trim
  20. race — humankind
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. jam — in traffic
  23. sharp — clever
  24. race — the arms race

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