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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · fan · bass · content · foot · degree · clip · tube

  1. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  9. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  19. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. clip — a video
  3. content — the amount
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. tube — a container
  6. fall — the season
  7. tube — the underground
  8. bass — the instrument
  9. foot — a measure
  10. degree — an amount
  11. clip — for paper
  12. fan — to cool the air
  13. bass — low music
  14. degree — temperature
  15. fall — to drop
  16. content — happy
  17. clip — to cut
  18. tube — in a tire
  19. foot — part of the body
  20. bass — the fish
  21. degree — from a university
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. foot — the bottom

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