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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. This piece is in a major ________________.
  6. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. bark — to shout
  3. stock — shares
  4. drill — the tool
  5. key — in music
  6. key — for a lock
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. key — the most important part
  9. row — a line
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. content — happy
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. content — the amount
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. drill — army training
  18. stick — to attach or keep to
  19. row — to paddle
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. drill — a practice
  24. stock — goods

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