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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.

Make a worksheet

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
468
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: cabinet · perch · ground · mine · tube · pit · land · degree

  1. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. What do you think of the new ________________?
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — a cupboard
  2. degree — an amount
  3. ground — a position
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. degree — from a university
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. ground — crushed
  10. tube — the underground
  11. perch — the fish
  12. pit — a hole
  13. land — a country
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. land — to come down
  16. ground — the earth
  17. pit — in a race
  18. mine — for digging
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. pit — a fruit stone
  21. tube — a container
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. land — ground
  24. degree — temperature

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