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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 120 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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Word bank
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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: fan · firm · chest · bark · spell · stock

  1. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. firm — a company
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. bark — to shout
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. firm — steady
  9. stock — shares
  10. chest — a box
  11. firm — decided
  12. spell — a short time
  13. spell — magic
  14. chest — of your body
  15. chest — of your body
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. stock — goods
  18. fan — a supporter

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