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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 120 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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  7. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  8. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. When was this ________________ built?
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. I don't want to ________________ the boat.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. temple — side of the head
  3. stock — goods
  4. spring — of water
  5. spell — letters
  6. foot — the bottom
  7. foot — part of the body
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. spring — the season
  10. stock — shares
  11. land — to come down
  12. foot — a measure
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. rock — a stone
  15. spring — a coil
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. bark — to shout
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. spell — a short time
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. land — a country
  22. spell — magic
  23. land — ground
  24. rock — to move gently

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