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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: bowl · spring · cell · perch · fan · trunk · pitch · mine

  1. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  22. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. pitch — completely
  3. perch — the fish
  4. bowl — a dish
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. cell — a phone
  7. spring — the season
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. mine — for digging
  12. spring — a coil
  13. bowl — to roll
  14. spring — of water
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. cell — in biology
  21. bowl — a football final
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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