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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
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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: clip · bark · net · file · row · bass · hand · perch

  1. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. file — a line of people
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. net — in sport
  7. perch — the fish
  8. clip — a video
  9. bass — the fish
  10. bark — to shout
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. bass — low music
  14. row — to paddle
  15. clip — for paper
  16. net — for catching
  17. clip — to cut
  18. file — a document
  19. hand — in cards
  20. file — a tool
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. row — a line
  24. hand — help

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