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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 120 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: spring · perch · field · tube · bowl · mine · bark · clip

  1. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  16. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. bark — to shout
  4. bowl — to roll
  5. clip — to cut
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. clip — for paper
  8. tube — a container
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. field — farmland
  13. spring — of water
  14. field — for sport
  15. bowl — a football final
  16. bowl — a dish
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. mine — for digging
  19. tube — the underground
  20. clip — a video
  21. perch — the fish
  22. field — a subject
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. spring — a coil

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