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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: perch · chair · court · nail · spring · bark · cold · bank

  1. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. The ________________ went through the wall.
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  23. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  24. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. bark — to shout
  5. court — of a king
  6. spring — a coil
  7. perch — the fish
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. court — for sport
  10. cold — an illness
  11. bank — for money
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. spring — of water
  15. court — of law
  16. cold — not warm
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. bank — of a river
  21. spring — the season
  22. nail — on a finger
  23. bank — for money
  24. chair — a leader

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