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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 · foot · spring · field · file · bass · board · current

  1. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  13. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  14. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  17. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. board — to get on
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. current — electric
  7. field — a subject
  8. spring — the season
  9. file — a tool
  10. foot — a measure
  11. file — a document
  12. current — happening now
  13. current — of water
  14. bass — the fish
  15. spring — a coil
  16. foot — the bottom
  17. board — a flat piece
  18. field — farmland
  19. board — a committee
  20. file — a line of people
  21. perch — the fish
  22. foot — part of the body
  23. field — for sport
  24. spring — of water

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