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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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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: drill · degree · deal · bat · cue · stick · land · scale

  1. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  2. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  3. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  11. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  12. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  16. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — size or range
  2. cue — a signal
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. land — ground
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. cue — a hint
  7. land — to come down
  8. bat — the animal
  9. land — a country
  10. cue — for pool
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. deal — to handle
  13. degree — temperature
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. deal — a big deal
  16. stick — to attach or keep to
  17. degree — an amount
  18. scale — in music
  19. degree — from a university
  20. deal — an agreement
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. drill — a practice
  23. drill — the tool
  24. drill — army training

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