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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 116 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. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. stock — shares
  5. rock — music
  6. stock — goods
  7. cap — a lid
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. degree — an amount
  10. hand — in cards
  11. scale — in music
  12. rock — to move gently
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. cap — a hat
  15. hand — help
  16. degree — from a university
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. degree — temperature
  19. kid — child
  20. bark — to shout
  21. scale — size or range
  22. rock — a stone
  23. cap — of ice
  24. kid — to tease

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