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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  22. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. stock — shares
  3. net — in sport
  4. ruler — a monarch
  5. prune — to trim
  6. fall — to drop
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. toast — a drink to someone
  9. net — for catching
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. net — after costs
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. fall — to drop
  14. land — a country
  15. stock — goods
  16. prune — to trim
  17. land — ground
  18. toast — bread
  19. bark — to shout
  20. fall — the season
  21. ruler — for measuring
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. toast — the most admired

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