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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.

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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: kid · net · pitch · bank · spring · craft · clip · bark

  1. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  7. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  21. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. net — after costs
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. net — for catching
  5. clip — to cut
  6. craft — boats
  7. craft — a skill
  8. clip — for paper
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. kid — child
  11. bank — for money
  12. net — in sport
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. spring — the season
  16. spring — of water
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. spring — a coil
  19. bark — to shout
  20. bank — for money
  21. craft — a handicraft
  22. pitch — completely
  23. bank — of a river
  24. kid — to tease

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