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

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  4. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. What do you think of the new ________________?
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. We're on a ________________ here.
  12. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. degree — an amount
  3. key — the most important part
  4. cabinet — a cupboard
  5. drill — army training
  6. drill — a practice
  7. roll — a list
  8. degree — temperature
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. mine — for digging
  11. roll — on a roll
  12. key — for a lock
  13. degree — from a university
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. court — of a king
  16. court — for sport
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. court — of law
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. land — a country
  21. roll — a cake
  22. key — in music
  23. drill — the tool
  24. land — to come down

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