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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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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. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. Did you ________________ the meat?
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. spring — the season
  3. court — of law
  4. court — for sport
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. row — to paddle
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. stem — to come from
  10. spring — of water
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. bark — to shout
  14. season — in sport
  15. perch — the fish
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. bat — the animal
  18. season — of the year
  19. season — to add flavour
  20. court — of a king
  21. row — a line
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. spring — a coil

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