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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 116 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. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. bark — to shout
  3. stock — shares
  4. land — a country
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. mark — a trace
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. rash — hasty
  11. rash — a series
  12. mate — a partner
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. cold — not warm
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. mark — a grade
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. land — ground
  19. land — to come down
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. stock — goods
  22. mark — to pay attention
  23. cold — an illness
  24. mate — to breed

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