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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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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: degree · file · safe · calf · march · wake · cell · fall

  1. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  6. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  9. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. fall — the season
  3. degree — an amount
  4. fall — to drop
  5. safe — out of danger
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. fall — to drop
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. safe — a strongbox
  10. degree — temperature
  11. wake — a trail
  12. march — music
  13. calf — of the leg
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. cell — a phone
  16. file — a line of people
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. safe — out of danger
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. degree — from a university
  21. cell — in biology
  22. file — a tool
  23. march — the month
  24. file — a document

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