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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. Have you settled on a ________________?
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  8. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  9. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. Have you met the new head ________________?
  24. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. shower — rain
  3. field — farmland
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. present — a gift
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. present — the time now
  9. present — there
  10. stock — shares
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. shower — to wash
  13. field — a subject
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. field — for sport
  16. saw — the tool
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. coach — pulled by horses
  19. bark — to shout
  20. stock — goods
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. saw — the tool
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. date — the fruit

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