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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.

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: content · bark · net · sharp · prune · file · straw · cap

  1. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. cap — a hat
  3. net — in sport
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. sharp — clever
  6. net — after costs
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. cap — a lid
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. file — a tool
  11. content — happy
  12. net — for catching
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. prune — to trim
  15. file — a line of people
  16. file — a document
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. bark — to shout
  22. content — the amount
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. prune — to trim

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