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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. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  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. bark — to shout
  2. march — the month
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. land — to come down
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. safe — a strongbox
  8. degree — from a university
  9. stock — shares
  10. spring — the season
  11. land — ground
  12. safe — out of danger
  13. cap — of ice
  14. land — a country
  15. degree — temperature
  16. spring — of water
  17. spring — a coil
  18. march — music
  19. cap — a lid
  20. march — the month
  21. safe — out of danger
  22. cap — a hat
  23. degree — an amount
  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