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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.

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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: perch · spring · bark · kick · cap · stand · bore · clip

  1. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  5. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  6. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  11. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. I can't ________________ this cold.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. spring — of water
  3. clip — to cut
  4. bore — gave birth
  5. cap — a lid
  6. bore — to tire
  7. clip — for paper
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. cap — a hat
  10. stand — on your feet
  11. bore — to drill
  12. spring — the season
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. spring — a coil
  15. stand — for spectators
  16. perch — the fish
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. cap — of ice
  19. clip — a video
  20. kick — in football
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. stand — to bear
  23. bark — to shout
  24. kick — a thrill

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