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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: fall · degree · object · tube · cabinet · clip · rule · wave

  1. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  6. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. What do you think of the new ________________?
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  19. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  20. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  21. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. fall — to drop
  3. clip — to cut
  4. fall — to drop
  5. cabinet — a cupboard
  6. wave — a sudden rise
  7. tube — the underground
  8. fall — the season
  9. degree — temperature
  10. rule — a law
  11. rule — government
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. clip — for paper
  15. tube — a container
  16. degree — an amount
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. rule — to rule out
  19. wave — with your hand
  20. object — an aim
  21. wave — of the sea
  22. degree — from a university
  23. object — a thing
  24. clip — a video

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