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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: tube · safe · leaves · file · degree · wind · mine · fall

  1. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  2. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  13. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — to go away
  2. safe — a strongbox
  3. mine — for digging
  4. file — a document
  5. fall — to drop
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. file — a tool
  8. wind — moving air
  9. fall — the season
  10. tube — a container
  11. fall — to drop
  12. leaves — of a tree
  13. leaves — lets stay
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. degree — an amount
  17. safe — out of danger
  18. wind — moving air
  19. tube — the underground
  20. degree — from a university
  21. degree — temperature
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. safe — out of danger
  24. file — a line of people

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