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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: present · bark · content · hand · roll · chest · scale · file

  1. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. We're on a ________________ here.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  14. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. roll — a list
  3. content — the amount
  4. bark — to shout
  5. present — a gift
  6. chest — of your body
  7. present — the time now
  8. file — a tool
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. roll — on a roll
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. present — there
  14. roll — a cake
  15. hand — help
  16. chest — of your body
  17. content — happy
  18. scale — in music
  19. hand — in cards
  20. chest — a box
  21. file — a document
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. scale — size or range
  24. scale — for weighing

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