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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 · row · trunk · bark · fine · capital · can · spring

  1. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  10. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  11. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. perch — the fish
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. fine — all right
  5. row — to paddle
  6. can — a tin
  7. capital — money
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. fine — a penalty
  10. fine — high quality
  11. can — to be able to
  12. bark — to shout
  13. spring — of water
  14. spring — a coil
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. row — a line
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. can — a tin
  21. spring — the season
  22. capital — a city
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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