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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: shower · wake · scale · perch · field · cabinet · nail · bark

  1. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. What do you think of the new ________________?
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  13. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. The ________________ went through the wall.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  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. bark — of a tree
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. field — farmland
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. shower — rain
  6. field — a subject
  7. field — for sport
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. wake — a trail
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. cabinet — a cupboard
  13. nail — on a finger
  14. perch — the fish
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. shower — to wash
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. scale — in music
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. bark — to shout
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  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