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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. My father caught me by the ________________.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. The ________________ went through the wall.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. season — in sport
  5. file — a document
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. nail — on a finger
  9. field — farmland
  10. file — a tool
  11. bark — to shout
  12. file — a line of people
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. perch — the fish
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. clip — a video
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. field — for sport
  20. field — a subject
  21. clip — for paper
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. clip — to cut
  24. arm — a part of something

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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