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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 120 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 ________________ market has crashed.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  4. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  18. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  21. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. chip — to eat
  4. mark — a trace
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. bark — to shout
  8. mark — to pay attention
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. spring — of water
  11. court — of law
  12. spring — the season
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. court — of a king
  15. chip — in a computer
  16. court — for sport
  17. mark — a grade
  18. root — the cause
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. chip — for betting
  21. root — of a plant
  22. stock — goods
  23. root — of a word
  24. spring — a coil

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