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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 120 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
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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: pit · spell · bay · tube · perch · field · content · bark

  1. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. My mare is ________________ in color.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. tube — a container
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. spell — letters
  7. pit — a hole
  8. content — the amount
  9. bay — a part of the sea
  10. bark — to shout
  11. tube — the underground
  12. bay — to keep at bay
  13. spell — magic
  14. bay — a horse colour
  15. field — a subject
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. field — for sport
  18. perch — the fish
  19. content — happy
  20. spell — a short time
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. field — farmland
  23. pit — in a race
  24. content — videos and posts

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