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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: kid · bark · content · root · file · leaves · mate · clip

  1. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  18. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  19. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. file — a tool
  3. leaves — to go away
  4. clip — to cut
  5. kid — child
  6. mate — a partner
  7. content — happy
  8. content — the amount
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. mate — a friend
  11. clip — a video
  12. file — a document
  13. file — a line of people
  14. root — of a plant
  15. kid — to tease
  16. clip — for paper
  17. leaves — lets stay
  18. root — of a word
  19. mate — to breed
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. leaves — of a tree
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. root — the cause
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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