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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: row · mark · race · pop · net · can · straw · bark

  1. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  16. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  24. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. mark — to pay attention
  4. row — a line
  5. pop — soda
  6. race — a contest
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. can — to be able to
  9. net — for catching
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. pop — to visit
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. row — to paddle
  15. mark — a grade
  16. mark — a trace
  17. net — in sport
  18. bark — to shout
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. race — the arms race
  21. race — humankind
  22. net — after costs
  23. pop — music
  24. can — a tin

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