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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 120 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: degree · drill · can · tube · mine · hand · field · pass

  1. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  19. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. I'll be taking the ________________.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. field — a subject
  3. can — a tin
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. drill — a practice
  6. pass — a permit
  7. drill — the tool
  8. field — for sport
  9. field — farmland
  10. pass — to succeed
  11. drill — army training
  12. degree — an amount
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. tube — a container
  15. can — a tin
  16. degree — temperature
  17. hand — help
  18. can — to be able to
  19. pass — to spend time
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. tube — the underground
  22. hand — in cards
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. degree — from a university

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