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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 120 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 supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  20. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. bark — to shout
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. net — after costs
  5. net — for catching
  6. chest — of your body
  7. club — for dancing
  8. chest — of your body
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. last — to go on
  12. tube — the underground
  13. chest — a box
  14. tube — a container
  15. race — a contest
  16. stock — shares
  17. last — final
  18. race — the arms race
  19. club — for golf
  20. club — a group
  21. last — finally
  22. race — humankind
  23. net — in sport
  24. tube — in a tire

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