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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 · bark · shower · scale · file · cabinet · ground · fine

  1. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  4. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  8. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. What do you think of the new ________________?
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. cabinet — a cupboard
  4. fine — high quality
  5. perch — the fish
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. fine — all right
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. shower — to wash
  10. scale — in music
  11. fine — a penalty
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. ground — crushed
  16. ground — the earth
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. bark — to shout
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. file — a line of people
  21. ground — a position
  22. file — a document
  23. shower — rain
  24. scale — size or range

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