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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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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: clip · degree · staff · tube · fall · trunk · stem · pass

  1. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  6. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. degree — an amount
  3. stem — a stem cell
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. staff — employees
  6. pass — a permit
  7. fall — to drop
  8. pass — to succeed
  9. degree — from a university
  10. stem — to come from
  11. staff — employees
  12. tube — the underground
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. clip — a video
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. pass — to spend time
  17. fall — the season
  18. staff — a stick
  19. clip — for paper
  20. degree — temperature
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. tube — a container
  23. clip — to cut
  24. trunk — of a tree

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