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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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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: fall · saw · clip · face · degree · trunk · mate · march

  1. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  2. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  20. Have you found your soul ________________?
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. She's very handy with a ________________.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. trunk — of a tree
  3. face — to point toward
  4. saw — the tool
  5. mate — to breed
  6. fall — to drop
  7. fall — the season
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. clip — for paper
  10. face — to confront
  11. clip — a video
  12. degree — from a university
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. degree — temperature
  15. march — the month
  16. face — part of the head
  17. march — the month
  18. march — music
  19. mate — a friend
  20. mate — a partner
  21. fall — to drop
  22. degree — an amount
  23. saw — the tool
  24. clip — to cut

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