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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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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: degree · saw · cell · mine · fall · wake · kid · arm

  1. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. My father caught me by the ________________.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — past of 'see'
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. fall — to drop
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. fall — the season
  6. kid — child
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. degree — an amount
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. wake — a trail
  11. saw — the tool
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. kid — to tease
  15. degree — temperature
  16. saw — the tool
  17. arm — a part of something
  18. cell — in biology
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. cell — a phone
  21. mine — for digging
  22. fall — to drop
  23. degree — from a university
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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