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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: march · ground · bank · degree · lie · mine · wake · scale

  1. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  20. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — the earth
  2. mine — for digging
  3. march — the month
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. degree — an amount
  6. scale — size or range
  7. degree — from a university
  8. ground — a position
  9. bank — for money
  10. ground — crushed
  11. march — the month
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. bank — of a river
  14. wake — a trail
  15. lie — to recline
  16. scale — in music
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. degree — temperature
  19. bank — for money
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. march — music
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. wake — before a funeral
  24. scale — for weighing

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