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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: scale · rule · staff · mine · clip · degree · bore · net

  1. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  11. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  12. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  22. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  23. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  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. net — for catching
  2. degree — from a university
  3. degree — temperature
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. bore — to tire
  6. net — after costs
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. net — in sport
  9. scale — in music
  10. staff — employees
  11. bore — to drill
  12. rule — a law
  13. mine — for digging
  14. bore — gave birth
  15. clip — to cut
  16. clip — a video
  17. clip — for paper
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. staff — employees
  20. scale — size or range
  21. rule — government
  22. staff — a stick
  23. rule — to rule out
  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