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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: mine · degree · bowl · field · stick · drill · pop · pitcher

  1. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  20. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  21. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  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. mine — an explosive
  2. bowl — to roll
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. field — farmland
  5. drill — the tool
  6. pop — soda
  7. field — a subject
  8. field — for sport
  9. bowl — a football final
  10. degree — from a university
  11. drill — a practice
  12. mine — for digging
  13. stick — a piece of wood
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. degree — temperature
  17. pop — to visit
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. bowl — a dish
  20. stick — to attach or keep to
  21. stick — a piece of wood
  22. degree — an amount
  23. pop — music
  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