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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 would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  16. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  17. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  18. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  19. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  22. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — a drink to someone
  2. field — farmland
  3. stock — goods
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. row — a line
  7. stock — shares
  8. ball — a dance
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. foot — the bottom
  11. field — a subject
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. foot — part of the body
  14. bark — to shout
  15. craft — boats
  16. toast — bread
  17. toast — the most admired
  18. craft — a skill
  19. craft — a handicraft
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. foot — a measure
  22. ball — a great time
  23. field — for sport
  24. row — to paddle

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