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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: saw · bass · spring · clip · leaves · perch · bat · bark

  1. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. He works in a ________________ mill.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. saw — the tool
  3. spring — the season
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. bass — the fish
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. leaves — of a tree
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. leaves — to go away
  13. spring — a coil
  14. bass — the instrument
  15. spring — of water
  16. bark — to shout
  17. leaves — lets stay
  18. perch — the fish
  19. clip — for paper
  20. clip — to cut
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. saw — the tool
  23. bat — the animal
  24. clip — a video

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