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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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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: band · file · fall · degree · rest · trunk · temple · clip

  1. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  19. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  20. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. When was this ________________ built?

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a tree
  2. band — a music group
  3. degree — from a university
  4. rest — a break
  5. rest — what's left
  6. fall — to drop
  7. band — a ring
  8. degree — temperature
  9. file — a document
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. clip — for paper
  13. degree — an amount
  14. clip — to cut
  15. file — a line of people
  16. file — a tool
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. temple — side of the head
  20. rest — what's left
  21. fall — the season
  22. clip — a video
  23. fall — to drop
  24. temple — a place of worship

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