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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: bark · content · chest · lean · staff · clip · capital · racket

  1. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  8. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  13. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  20. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  21. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. chest — of your body
  3. content — happy
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. chest — a box
  6. lean — thin
  7. lean — to rest against
  8. staff — employees
  9. clip — a video
  10. capital — a city
  11. bark — to shout
  12. racket — a loud noise
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. capital — money
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. content — the amount
  17. staff — employees
  18. clip — for paper
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. staff — a stick
  21. lean — to bend
  22. chest — of your body
  23. clip — to cut
  24. bark — of a tree

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