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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: rock · vault · stock · scale · fine · drill · cell · degree

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. fine — all right
  3. cell — a phone
  4. fine — a penalty
  5. stock — shares
  6. vault — in gymnastics
  7. drill — a practice
  8. scale — in music
  9. rock — music
  10. degree — temperature
  11. vault — an arched ceiling
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. degree — an amount
  14. rock — to move gently
  15. drill — the tool
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. rock — a stone
  19. drill — army training
  20. fine — high quality
  21. scale — size or range
  22. stock — goods
  23. cell — in biology
  24. vault — a safe

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