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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.

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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: ground · hand · bark · perch · content · bound · clip · saw

  1. He works in a ________________ mill.
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. That was ________________ to happen.
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. She's very handy with a ________________.
  24. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. ground — the earth
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. clip — for paper
  5. bound — tied together
  6. ground — crushed
  7. clip — to cut
  8. bound — certain
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. content — happy
  11. bound — obliged
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. content — the amount
  14. ground — a position
  15. clip — a video
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. hand — help
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. bark — to shout
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. hand — in cards
  23. saw — the tool
  24. perch — the fish

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