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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: net · deal · bark · swing · content · clip · rock · drill

  1. David sat on the ________________.
  2. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  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. swing — to play on
  2. rock — to move gently
  3. net — after costs
  4. content — happy
  5. swing — in golf
  6. rock — music
  7. content — the amount
  8. deal — an agreement
  9. clip — a video
  10. drill — army training
  11. swing — music
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. deal — a big deal
  14. clip — for paper
  15. drill — a practice
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. bark — to shout
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. clip — to cut
  20. deal — to handle
  21. net — for catching
  22. drill — the tool
  23. rock — a stone
  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