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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. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. last — to go on
  3. face — part of the head
  4. cell — a phone
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. last — final
  7. face — to confront
  8. ground — a position
  9. cell — in biology
  10. ground — crushed
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. bark — to shout
  13. land — a country
  14. face — to point toward
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. land — to come down
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. last — finally
  19. stock — shares
  20. patient — calm and waiting
  21. ground — the earth
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. land — ground
  24. stock — goods

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