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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. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  10. The light ________________ burned out.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. I've got to change the light ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  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. ground — the earth
  2. stock — goods
  3. pop — soda
  4. game — a match
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. ground — a position
  7. prune — to trim
  8. prune — to trim
  9. bulb — of a plant
  10. bulb — for light
  11. cold — not warm
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. bulb — for light
  14. cold — an illness
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. ground — crushed
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. pop — music
  20. bark — to shout
  21. game — wild animals
  22. pop — to visit
  23. stock — shares
  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