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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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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: bark · perch · ground · lean · branch · present · file · cell

  1. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  5. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. lean — to rest against
  3. perch — the fish
  4. present — there
  5. lean — to bend
  6. ground — the earth
  7. lean — thin
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. present — the time now
  11. present — a gift
  12. file — a line of people
  13. ground — a position
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. file — a document
  16. bark — to shout
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. ground — crushed
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. cell — in biology
  22. branch — a division
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. file — a tool

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