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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 120 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
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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: rest · fall · clip · bark · saw · mate · net · hand

  1. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. She's very handy with a ________________.
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. clip — to cut
  3. saw — the tool
  4. mate — a partner
  5. fall — the season
  6. mate — to breed
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. rest — what's left
  9. clip — for paper
  10. hand — in cards
  11. bark — to shout
  12. saw — the tool
  13. mate — a friend
  14. net — in sport
  15. rest — what's left
  16. rest — a break
  17. fall — to drop
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. clip — a video
  20. hand — help
  21. net — after costs
  22. fall — to drop
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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