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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
468
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: present · content · current · perch · file · spring · clip · mate

  1. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. perch — the fish
  3. current — electric
  4. mate — a partner
  5. current — of water
  6. file — a document
  7. file — a tool
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. mate — to breed
  10. present — there
  11. file — a line of people
  12. clip — for paper
  13. present — the time now
  14. content — happy
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. spring — a coil
  17. current — happening now
  18. mate — a friend
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. clip — a video
  21. content — the amount
  22. clip — to cut
  23. spring — of water
  24. spring — the season

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