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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: file · race · rule · straw · tear · ruler · chest · degree

  1. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  10. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. ruler — for measuring
  2. degree — from a university
  3. tear — from crying
  4. chest — of your body
  5. tear — from crying
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. race — humankind
  8. file — a tool
  9. rule — a law
  10. ruler — for measuring
  11. file — a line of people
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. race — a contest
  15. race — the arms race
  16. file — a document
  17. tear — to rip
  18. degree — temperature
  19. rule — government
  20. chest — of your body
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. chest — a box
  23. ruler — a monarch
  24. degree — an amount

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