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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. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  21. That must've been a ________________.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. spring — a coil
  5. bark — to shout
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. tube — the underground
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. stock — shares
  11. file — a document
  12. tear — to rip
  13. tear — from crying
  14. tube — a container
  15. file — a tool
  16. spring — of water
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. wake — a trail
  19. spring — the season
  20. rush — hurry
  21. rush — a thrill
  22. tear — from crying
  23. file — a line of people
  24. stock — goods

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