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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 116 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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. capital — money
  4. spring — of water
  5. stock — goods
  6. field — farmland
  7. rest — a break
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. stock — shares
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. perch — the fish
  15. rest — what's left
  16. field — for sport
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. capital — a city
  21. spring — the season
  22. field — a subject
  23. rest — what's left
  24. bark — to shout

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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