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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. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. We're on a ________________ here.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. tear — to rip
  4. stock — goods
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. roll — on a roll
  9. fork — in a road
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. roll — a cake
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. bark — to shout
  16. roll — a list
  17. chair — a leader
  18. cold — not warm
  19. tear — from crying
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. cold — an illness
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. stock — shares
  24. stock — a soup base

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