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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: hand · straw · bark · pop · row · pitch · perch · net

  1. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. hand — help
  4. pop — to visit
  5. net — for catching
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. pop — music
  8. hand — in cards
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. row — a line
  15. pop — soda
  16. net — in sport
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. net — after costs
  19. pitch — completely
  20. perch — the fish
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. bark — to shout
  24. row — to paddle

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