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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. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. The tickets are free of ________________.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. charge — a price
  3. stock — goods
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. drill — a practice
  6. spring — the season
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. row — a line
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. charge — electricity
  12. stock — shares
  13. charge — in control
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. drill — the tool
  17. spring — of water
  18. pound — a weight
  19. spring — a coil
  20. bark — to shout
  21. drill — army training
  22. pound — to hit hard
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. row — to paddle

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