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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: kick · row · net · straw · clip · racket · bark · content

  1. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. clip — for paper
  5. clip — to cut
  6. net — after costs
  7. net — for catching
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. content — the amount
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. clip — a video
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. row — a line
  16. content — happy
  17. row — to paddle
  18. kick — in football
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. bark — to shout
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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