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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: content · pound · capital · bark · chest · file

  1. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. pound — to hit hard
  3. chest — of your body
  4. capital — money
  5. capital — a city
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. content — happy
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. file — a line of people
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. chest — a box
  13. content — the amount
  14. file — a document
  15. bark — to shout
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. chest — of your body
  18. pound — a weight

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