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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. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. We're on a ________________ here.
  15. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  20. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. can — a tin
  3. stock — shares
  4. rash — a series
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. file — a tool
  7. stock — goods
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. prune — to trim
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. bass — low music
  12. can — a tin
  13. file — a document
  14. roll — on a roll
  15. can — to be able to
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. bass — the fish
  18. bark — to shout
  19. roll — a cake
  20. roll — a list
  21. file — a line of people
  22. prune — to trim
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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