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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 · court · degree · drill · field · rock · scale · pit

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  18. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. rock — a stone
  3. degree — an amount
  4. drill — the tool
  5. pit — in a race
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. degree — temperature
  8. drill — a practice
  9. rock — music
  10. scale — size or range
  11. pit — a hole
  12. scale — in music
  13. field — for sport
  14. degree — from a university
  15. court — of a king
  16. mine — for digging
  17. pit — a fruit stone
  18. rock — to move gently
  19. court — of law
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. drill — army training
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. field — a subject
  24. court — for sport

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