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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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  17. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. I have a corn on my right ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. bark — to shout
  3. stock — shares
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. tear — from crying
  7. tear — from crying
  8. foot — a measure
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. bat — the animal
  12. bank — for money
  13. tear — to rip
  14. present — there
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. bank — of a river
  17. foot — the bottom
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. present — the time now
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. branch — a division
  22. bank — for money
  23. stock — goods
  24. foot — 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