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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: perch · prune · season · bat · file · spring · bank · clip

  1. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  12. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. bat — the animal
  3. spring — a coil
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. clip — for paper
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. spring — of water
  8. prune — to trim
  9. season — of the year
  10. perch — the fish
  11. bank — of a river
  12. bank — for money
  13. spring — the season
  14. bank — for money
  15. file — a tool
  16. prune — to trim
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. clip — a video
  19. file — a line of people
  20. file — a document
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. clip — to cut
  23. season — in sport
  24. bat — for baseball

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