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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 museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  5. Did you ________________ the meat?
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. Have you found your soul ________________?
  8. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. stock — goods
  4. leaves — of a tree
  5. season — to add flavour
  6. ground — the earth
  7. mate — a partner
  8. leaves — to go away
  9. wax — to grow
  10. ground — crushed
  11. mate — a friend
  12. ground — a position
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. row — a line
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. stock — shares
  17. season — of the year
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. season — in sport
  20. leaves — lets stay
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. mate — to breed
  23. row — to paddle
  24. bark — to shout

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