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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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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 · content · bat · leaves · tube · last · deal · clip

  1. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  6. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. I'll be taking the ________________.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. last — final
  3. leaves — of a tree
  4. clip — to cut
  5. deal — to handle
  6. deal — a big deal
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. content — happy
  9. last — finally
  10. clip — a video
  11. last — to go on
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. content — the amount
  14. deal — an agreement
  15. clip — for paper
  16. bark — to shout
  17. leaves — lets stay
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. leaves — to go away
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. bat — the animal
  23. tube — the underground
  24. content — videos and posts

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