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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · net · staff · content · fork · racket · wax

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. net — after costs
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. clip — a video
  7. staff — a stick
  8. content — the amount
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. staff — employees
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. net — in sport
  13. racket — a loud noise
  14. bark — to shout
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. net — for catching
  17. clip — to cut
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. staff — employees
  21. clip — for paper
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. wax — to grow
  24. fork — in a road

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