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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.

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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: net · press · clip · bat · race · nail · spell · bark

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. The ________________ went through the wall.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. Did you ________________ the button?
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. net — for catching
  3. clip — to cut
  4. nail — on a finger
  5. spell — magic
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. race — the arms race
  10. press — newspapers
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. spell — letters
  13. bark — to shout
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. press — to push
  16. clip — a video
  17. net — after costs
  18. press — a publisher
  19. net — in sport
  20. bat — the animal
  21. race — humankind
  22. spell — a short time
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. race — a contest

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