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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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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: staff · cabinet · clip · bark · content · rest · craft · kid

  1. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. What do you think of the new ________________?
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  16. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  19. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  20. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  21. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  22. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — a skill
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. content — happy
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. kid — child
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. bark — to shout
  8. staff — a stick
  9. rest — a break
  10. content — the amount
  11. craft — boats
  12. clip — a video
  13. clip — for paper
  14. clip — to cut
  15. cabinet — a cupboard
  16. rest — what's left
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. craft — a handicraft
  20. rest — what's left
  21. staff — employees
  22. staff — employees
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. kid — to tease

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