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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: mine · degree · drill · fork · cabinet · date · fan · nail

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  9. What do you think of the new ________________?
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  12. The ________________ went through the wall.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. Have you settled on a ________________?
  18. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  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. degree — from a university
  2. degree — an amount
  3. drill — army training
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. drill — the tool
  8. nail — on a finger
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. mine — for digging
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. fork — a garden tool
  19. degree — temperature
  20. fork — in a road
  21. drill — a practice
  22. cabinet — a cupboard
  23. date — the fruit
  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