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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: cell · degree · craft · drill · mouse · land · cap · wake

  1. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  3. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  9. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  10. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  11. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. cap — of ice
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. cap — a hat
  5. drill — army training
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. land — to come down
  8. craft — a skill
  9. craft — boats
  10. mouse — for a computer
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. degree — temperature
  13. cap — a lid
  14. degree — from a university
  15. degree — an amount
  16. wake — a trail
  17. land — ground
  18. cell — in biology
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. drill — a practice
  21. cell — a phone
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. craft — a handicraft
  24. drill — the tool

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