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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 supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  9. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  10. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. Don't do anything ________________.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. stock — shares
  3. track — to keep track
  4. face — to point toward
  5. cold — an illness
  6. spell — a short time
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. track — a path
  9. foot — the bottom
  10. foot — part of the body
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. face — part of the head
  13. track — a song
  14. face — to confront
  15. spell — magic
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. cold — not warm
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. foot — a measure
  21. bark — to shout
  22. spell — letters
  23. rash — hasty
  24. rash — a series

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