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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: tear · stock · fall · branch · bark · cell

  1. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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. stock — goods
  4. fall — to drop
  5. branch — a division
  6. fall — the season
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. tear — from crying
  10. fall — to drop
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. cell — a phone
  13. tear — from crying
  14. tear — to rip
  15. bark — to shout
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. stock — shares
  18. cell — in biology

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