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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. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. stock — goods
  3. lean — thin
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. stock — shares
  6. bass — the fish
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. bark — to shout
  9. season — in sport
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. bass — low music
  12. cold — not warm
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. cold — an illness
  15. current — electric
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. current — of water
  18. bat — the animal
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. season — of the year
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. lean — to rest against
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. current — happening now

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