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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: net · straw · court · deal · bark · wound · clip · spell

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. bark — to shout
  3. spell — magic
  4. net — in sport
  5. deal — a big deal
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. wound — an injury
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. deal — to handle
  10. spell — letters
  11. court — of a king
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. court — of law
  14. spell — a short time
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. net — after costs
  18. clip — for paper
  19. court — for sport
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. net — for catching
  22. clip — a video
  23. deal — an agreement
  24. wound — an injury

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