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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. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. The tickets are free of ________________.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. snap — to click
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. stock — shares
  6. firm — steady
  7. field — farmland
  8. charge — in control
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. net — after costs
  11. firm — decided
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. race — the arms race
  14. field — a subject
  15. net — in sport
  16. net — for catching
  17. race — a contest
  18. bark — to shout
  19. charge — electricity
  20. stock — goods
  21. charge — a price
  22. race — humankind
  23. firm — a company
  24. field — for sport

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