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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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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: stock · march · snap · pit · bark · shower · chest · patient

  1. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  17. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. stock — shares
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. march — the month
  8. chest — of your body
  9. snap — to click
  10. stock — goods
  11. shower — rain
  12. chest — of your body
  13. shower — to wash
  14. march — music
  15. march — the month
  16. pit — a fruit stone
  17. pit — a hole
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. bark — to shout
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. chest — a box
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. pit — in a race

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