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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 116 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: pound · fall · land · degree · band · cell · mouse · scale

  1. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. fall — to drop
  4. land — ground
  5. land — a country
  6. scale — in music
  7. mouse — the animal
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. degree — temperature
  10. degree — from a university
  11. mouse — for a computer
  12. pound — a weight
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. land — to come down
  15. band — a ring
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. cell — in biology
  19. band — a music group
  20. fall — the season
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. cell — a phone
  23. scale — size or range
  24. degree — an amount

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