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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
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: trunk · content · perch · band · bark · press · court · file

  1. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. Did you ________________ the button?
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. content — the amount
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. band — a music group
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. perch — the fish
  7. press — a publisher
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. content — happy
  10. file — a tool
  11. band — a ring
  12. press — to push
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. press — newspapers
  19. bark — to shout
  20. court — of a king
  21. court — for sport
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. file — a document
  24. file — a line of people

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