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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: lean · hand · bark · perch · field · bowl · cabinet · trunk

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  20. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. What do you think of the new ________________?
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. field — farmland
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. bark — to shout
  6. lean — to rest against
  7. lean — to bend
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. field — a subject
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. bowl — to roll
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. hand — help
  14. cabinet — a cupboard
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. perch — the fish
  17. field — for sport
  18. hand — in cards
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. lean — thin
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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