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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.

Make a worksheet

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: sharp · stock · rock · file · bark · cold

  1. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  10. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. file — a tool
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. cold — an illness
  5. rock — a stone
  6. file — a line of people
  7. bark — to shout
  8. stock — goods
  9. rock — music
  10. rock — to move gently
  11. sharp — clever
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. stock — shares
  14. file — a document
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. cold — not warm
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. stock — a soup base

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