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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: staff · rock · degree · plane · date · drill · field · chest

  1. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  4. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  9. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  10. Have you settled on a ________________?
  11. The ________________ took off on time.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  17. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — army training
  2. chest — a box
  3. rock — music
  4. plane — in geometry
  5. chest — of your body
  6. rock — a stone
  7. degree — an amount
  8. staff — employees
  9. staff — employees
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. plane — an aircraft
  12. field — for sport
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. field — a subject
  15. drill — a practice
  16. rock — to move gently
  17. staff — a stick
  18. field — farmland
  19. drill — the tool
  20. plane — a tool
  21. degree — temperature
  22. degree — from a university
  23. chest — of your body
  24. date — the fruit

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