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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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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: ruler · shower · perch · tear · field · rush · rest · spring

  1. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  8. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. That must've been a ________________.
  14. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  24. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. shower — to wash
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. perch — the fish
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. rest — a break
  8. ruler — for measuring
  9. field — for sport
  10. spring — the season
  11. ruler — a monarch
  12. spring — a coil
  13. rush — a thrill
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. shower — rain
  16. field — farmland
  17. field — a subject
  18. tear — to rip
  19. tear — from crying
  20. spring — of water
  21. rest — what's left
  22. tear — from crying
  23. ruler — for measuring
  24. rest — what's left

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