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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. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  10. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. stock — shares
  3. land — to come down
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. bark — to shout
  9. staff — employees
  10. fine — a penalty
  11. land — a country
  12. fine — high quality
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. stock — goods
  15. land — ground
  16. fine — all right
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. cold — an illness
  19. mine — for digging
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. perch — the fish
  22. cold — not warm
  23. staff — a stick
  24. perch — for a bird

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