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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 · suit · field · bark · perch · saw · net · hand

  1. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. When will it ________________ you to start?
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  15. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. field — for sport
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. suit — in cards
  6. kid — to tease
  7. field — farmland
  8. suit — to fit
  9. hand — help
  10. hand — in cards
  11. perch — the fish
  12. net — for catching
  13. saw — the tool
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. suit — clothes
  16. field — a subject
  17. net — in sport
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. bark — to shout
  22. saw — the tool
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. kid — child

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