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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: nail · ground · staff · drill · tear · track · degree · tube

  1. There's no middle ________________.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  9. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. The ________________ went through the wall.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. degree — an amount
  3. nail — on a finger
  4. drill — army training
  5. staff — a stick
  6. tube — the underground
  7. degree — from a university
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. staff — employees
  10. track — a path
  11. tube — a container
  12. drill — the tool
  13. staff — employees
  14. tear — to rip
  15. tear — from crying
  16. track — to keep track
  17. degree — temperature
  18. ground — the earth
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. tear — from crying
  21. ground — crushed
  22. drill — a practice
  23. track — a song
  24. tube — in a tire

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