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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. He is an ace ________________.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  20. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  21. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. board — a flat piece
  5. stock — goods
  6. bark — to shout
  7. pound — a weight
  8. fall — to drop
  9. cold — an illness
  10. board — to get on
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. fall — to drop
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. snap — to click
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. cold — not warm
  19. pound — for dogs
  20. pound — to hit hard
  21. board — a committee
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. stock — shares
  24. fall — the season

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