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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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. That must've been a ________________.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  13. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. stock — shares
  3. bowl — to roll
  4. row — a line
  5. rush — to hurry
  6. chest — of your body
  7. row — to paddle
  8. chest — of your body
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. rush — a thrill
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. bowl — a football final
  13. rush — hurry
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. stock — goods
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. bark — to shout
  19. bank — of a river
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. bank — for money
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. chest — a box
  24. bank — for money

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