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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 carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The ________________ took off on time.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  11. Have you met the new head ________________?
  12. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. plane — a tool
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. stock — goods
  5. stock — shares
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. cold — an illness
  8. plane — an aircraft
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. rock — music
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. plane — in geometry
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. rock — a stone
  17. season — in sport
  18. rock — to move gently
  19. bark — to shout
  20. wound — an injury
  21. season — of the year
  22. wound — an injury
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. cold — not warm

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