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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. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  21. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. shower — rain
  3. shower — to wash
  4. stock — shares
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. capital — a city
  7. foot — part of the body
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. degree — an amount
  10. foot — a measure
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. stock — goods
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. capital — money
  17. stick — to attach or keep to
  18. degree — temperature
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. snap — to click
  21. foot — the bottom
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. bark — to shout
  24. degree — from a university

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