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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: wind · bat · row · fall · trunk · bulb · degree · leaves

  1. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  7. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  13. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. The light ________________ burned out.
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. I've got to change the light ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. wind — moving air
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. fall — to drop
  6. leaves — of a tree
  7. leaves — to go away
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. degree — from a university
  10. wind — moving air
  11. degree — an amount
  12. leaves — lets stay
  13. bulb — of a plant
  14. bat — the animal
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. bulb — for light
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. row — to paddle
  20. degree — temperature
  21. fall — to drop
  22. fall — the season
  23. row — a line
  24. bulb — for light

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