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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 haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. Have you found your soul ________________?
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. That was ________________ to happen.
  21. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  22. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. stock — goods
  3. stock — shares
  4. file — a tool
  5. content — happy
  6. bark — to shout
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. bound — obliged
  10. mate — to breed
  11. file — a document
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. bound — tied together
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. content — the amount
  17. mate — a partner
  18. file — a line of people
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. bound — certain
  21. mate — a friend
  22. chair — a leader
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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