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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
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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: clip · bear · bowl · bark · cold · rock · trunk · spring

  1. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  5. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  18. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  19. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  22. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. cold — not warm
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. rock — to move gently
  5. bear — to put up with
  6. spring — of water
  7. rock — a stone
  8. clip — for paper
  9. clip — a video
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. bowl — a football final
  12. spring — a coil
  13. spring — the season
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. cold — an illness
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. bowl — to roll
  18. rock — music
  19. bear — the animal
  20. clip — to cut
  21. bear — the animal
  22. bowl — a dish
  23. bark — to shout
  24. bark — of a tree

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