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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: land · fall · ball · drill · pound · wound · cabinet · degree

  1. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. The King held a masked ________________.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. What do you think of the new ________________?
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — a cupboard
  2. wound — an injury
  3. fall — the season
  4. land — ground
  5. drill — a practice
  6. pound — to hit hard
  7. fall — to drop
  8. drill — army training
  9. degree — temperature
  10. ball — a dance
  11. fall — to drop
  12. pound — a weight
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. degree — an amount
  16. wound — an injury
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. ball — a great time
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. drill — the tool
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. degree — from a university
  23. land — to come down
  24. land — a country

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