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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: season · mine · perch · pit · branch · plane · net · file

  1. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. The ________________ took off on time.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  23. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  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. mine — for digging
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. pit — a fruit stone
  5. branch — a division
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. perch — the fish
  9. plane — in geometry
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. season — of the year
  13. file — a line of people
  14. plane — an aircraft
  15. season — in sport
  16. pit — in a race
  17. net — after costs
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. file — a document
  20. net — for catching
  21. net — in sport
  22. plane — a tool
  23. pit — a hole
  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