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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. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. Don't do anything ________________.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. bark — to shout
  3. band — a ring
  4. stock — goods
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. content — happy
  8. band — a music group
  9. file — a document
  10. stock — shares
  11. file — a tool
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. squash — the sport
  15. content — the amount
  16. squash — to crush
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. rash — a series
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. rash — hasty
  23. shower — to wash
  24. file — a line of people

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