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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: fall · field · kid · degree · mouse · staff · drill · temple

  1. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  2. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  7. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. When was this ________________ built?
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — a stick
  2. mouse — for a computer
  3. kid — child
  4. staff — employees
  5. degree — an amount
  6. staff — employees
  7. mouse — the animal
  8. fall — to drop
  9. degree — temperature
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. kid — to tease
  12. degree — from a university
  13. temple — a place of worship
  14. field — a subject
  15. temple — side of the head
  16. drill — the tool
  17. field — farmland
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. drill — a practice
  20. field — for sport
  21. fall — to drop
  22. drill — army training
  23. temple — a place of worship
  24. fall — the season

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