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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 120 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. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. rule — government
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. rule — to rule out
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. last — finally
  9. band — a ring
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. bark — to shout
  12. band — a music group
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. last — to go on
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. last — final
  17. stock — goods
  18. scale — size or range
  19. scale — in music
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. rule — a law
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. perch — the fish

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