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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 120 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. What do you think of the new ________________?
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  13. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  21. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. degree — temperature
  4. degree — from a university
  5. scale — in music
  6. degree — an amount
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. prune — to trim
  9. prune — to trim
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. bass — the fish
  12. cabinet — a cupboard
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. drill — army training
  15. cap — a lid
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. cap — a hat
  18. drill — the tool
  19. scale — size or range
  20. bass — low music
  21. cap — of ice
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. drill — a practice
  24. mine — belonging to me

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