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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: bark · fan · cell · file · pitcher · fine · spring · bear

  1. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  2. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  19. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — a penalty
  2. fine — high quality
  3. bark — to shout
  4. spring — of water
  5. file — a document
  6. fine — all right
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. cell — a phone
  12. bear — the animal
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. bear — to put up with
  17. spring — a coil
  18. fan — to cool the air
  19. bear — the animal
  20. file — a tool
  21. cell — in biology
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. spring — the season
  24. file — a line of people

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