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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: mine · drill · wind · land · degree · stock · cell · safe

  1. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  11. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. land — a country
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. wind — moving air
  5. stock — shares
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. drill — the tool
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. degree — an amount
  10. safe — out of danger
  11. safe — a strongbox
  12. degree — from a university
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. drill — army training
  15. cell — in biology
  16. land — to come down
  17. mine — for digging
  18. cell — a phone
  19. stock — goods
  20. wind — moving air
  21. land — ground
  22. drill — a practice
  23. safe — out of danger
  24. mine — belonging to me

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