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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: coach · trunk · spell · spring · bark · file · present · clip

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  13. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  21. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. file — a line of people
  4. file — a document
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. spring — the season
  7. clip — for paper
  8. spring — of water
  9. bark — to shout
  10. present — the time now
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. present — there
  13. coach — pulled by horses
  14. spell — letters
  15. clip — a video
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. file — a tool
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. present — a gift
  22. spring — a coil
  23. spell — magic
  24. spell — a short time

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