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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: bark · clip · tear · temple · tube · wave · bat · pop

  1. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. When was this ________________ built?
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  11. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  17. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. wave — with your hand
  2. bark — to shout
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. clip — for paper
  5. tear — from crying
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. tear — to rip
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. bat — the animal
  10. temple — side of the head
  11. wave — of the sea
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. clip — a video
  14. tube — the underground
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. wave — a sudden rise
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. pop — soda
  19. clip — to cut
  20. pop — music
  21. tear — from crying
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. pop — to visit
  24. tube — a container

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