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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 116 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  13. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. rest — what's left
  3. clip — to cut
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. clip — for paper
  6. tube — the underground
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. bat — the animal
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. chip — in a computer
  13. rest — a break
  14. rest — what's left
  15. stem — to come from
  16. clip — a video
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. chip — for betting
  20. wound — an injury
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. bark — to shout
  23. chip — to eat
  24. wound — an injury

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