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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: content · rash · bark · hide · net · clip · season · race

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. Did you ________________ the meat?
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. net — after costs
  5. race — the arms race
  6. clip — a video
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. race — humankind
  10. net — in sport
  11. net — for catching
  12. bark — to shout
  13. season — to add flavour
  14. clip — to cut
  15. hide — animal skin
  16. rash — hasty
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. season — in sport
  20. season — of the year
  21. content — happy
  22. rash — a series
  23. race — a contest
  24. content — the amount

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