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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. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. content — the amount
  3. stock — goods
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. snap — to click
  7. spell — letters
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. bark — to shout
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. lean — to bend
  15. stock — shares
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. lean — thin
  18. spell — magic
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. content — happy
  22. lean — to rest against
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. spell — a short time

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