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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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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 · march · pound · mug · tube · bulb · clip · degree

  1. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. Where did you ________________ them?
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. The light ________________ burned out.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. I've got to change the light ________________.
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  22. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. fall — the season
  2. tube — the underground
  3. clip — a video
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. march — music
  7. degree — from a university
  8. degree — temperature
  9. tube — a container
  10. mug — to rob
  11. fall — to drop
  12. bulb — for light
  13. fall — to drop
  14. mug — a cup
  15. clip — for paper
  16. bulb — for light
  17. pound — a weight
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. march — the month
  20. clip — to cut
  21. mug — a face
  22. bulb — of a plant
  23. march — the month
  24. degree — an amount

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