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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: bulb · net · clip · row · bark · rule · content · nail

  1. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  2. The light ________________ burned out.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. The ________________ went through the wall.
  12. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  16. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  17. I've got to change the light ________________.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. bulb — for light
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. bark — to shout
  5. clip — for paper
  6. content — happy
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. nail — on a finger
  10. row — a line
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. rule — a law
  13. row — to paddle
  14. net — after costs
  15. rule — to rule out
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. bulb — for light
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. clip — a video
  20. clip — to cut
  21. content — the amount
  22. net — for catching
  23. bulb — of a plant
  24. net — in sport

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