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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. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. We're on a ________________ here.
  23. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. field — a subject
  3. stock — goods
  4. mine — for digging
  5. perch — the fish
  6. object — a thing
  7. wake — a trail
  8. field — for sport
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. field — farmland
  11. object — an aim
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. roll — a list
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. stock — shares
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. bark — to shout
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. roll — on a roll
  23. roll — a cake
  24. perch — for a bird

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