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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: wound · pitch · game · pop · perch · bark · saw · spring

  1. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. We're almost out of ________________.
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. She's very handy with a ________________.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. pop — soda
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. pop — music
  9. spring — of water
  10. bark — to shout
  11. spring — the season
  12. pitch — completely
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. perch — the fish
  15. spring — a coil
  16. game — a match
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. game — wild animals
  19. wound — an injury
  20. saw — the tool
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. wound — an injury
  23. pop — to visit
  24. saw — the tool

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