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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. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. cue — a signal
  3. spell — letters
  4. wind — moving air
  5. spell — magic
  6. field — for sport
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. stock — shares
  10. wind — moving air
  11. spell — a short time
  12. track — a song
  13. track — to keep track
  14. track — a path
  15. hand — in cards
  16. field — a subject
  17. field — farmland
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. hand — help
  20. stock — goods
  21. cue — a hint
  22. bark — to shout
  23. cue — for pool
  24. hand — part of the body

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