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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. stock — shares
  3. swing — in golf
  4. race — a contest
  5. stock — goods
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. swing — to play on
  8. bark — to shout
  9. race — humankind
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. scale — in music
  13. ground — the earth
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. stick — to attach or keep to
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. swing — music
  20. stem — to come from
  21. ground — a position
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. race — the arms race
  24. scale — size or range

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