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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: vault · nail · prune · field · band · mine · file · degree

  1. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. The ________________ went through the wall.
  13. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  21. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. field — a subject
  4. degree — from a university
  5. prune — to trim
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. degree — an amount
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. file — a tool
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. vault — an arched ceiling
  14. prune — to trim
  15. degree — temperature
  16. file — a line of people
  17. band — a music group
  18. vault — in gymnastics
  19. field — farmland
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. vault — a safe
  22. field — for sport
  23. file — a document
  24. band — a ring

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