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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: tube · degree · bound · scale · field · pop · key · mine

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. That was ________________ to happen.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. This piece is in a major ________________.
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. degree — an amount
  3. key — for a lock
  4. tube — a container
  5. degree — from a university
  6. field — a subject
  7. mine — for digging
  8. bound — certain
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. pop — soda
  11. key — in music
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. pop — music
  14. bound — obliged
  15. scale — in music
  16. key — the most important part
  17. scale — size or range
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. pop — to visit
  20. bound — tied together
  21. degree — temperature
  22. tube — the underground
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. field — for sport

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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