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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. bark — to shout
  3. race — humankind
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. calf — of the leg
  6. march — the month
  7. race — the arms race
  8. stock — goods
  9. march — music
  10. spring — a coil
  11. net — after costs
  12. game — a match
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. spring — of water
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. race — a contest
  17. game — wild animals
  18. stock — shares
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. march — the month
  21. net — in sport
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. spring — the season
  24. net — for catching

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