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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: spring · lean · bark · row · content · clip · nail · racket

  1. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  12. The ________________ went through the wall.
  13. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  22. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  23. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. clip — a video
  3. racket — a loud noise
  4. lean — to rest against
  5. spring — of water
  6. spring — a coil
  7. clip — to cut
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. spring — the season
  11. lean — to bend
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. content — the amount
  15. row — a line
  16. content — happy
  17. clip — for paper
  18. lean — thin
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. nail — on a finger
  24. row — to paddle

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