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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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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: degree · land · cell · nail · key · deal

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  3. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  4. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  7. The ________________ went through the wall.
  8. This piece is in a major ________________.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  14. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  15. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. key — the most important part
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. deal — to handle
  5. cell — a phone
  6. deal — an agreement
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. key — in music
  9. degree — from a university
  10. land — ground
  11. land — a country
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. deal — a big deal
  14. nail — on a finger
  15. key — for a lock
  16. land — to come down
  17. degree — temperature
  18. cell — in biology

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