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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: ground · bark · file · content · kid · season · stock · fork

  1. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — in sport
  2. stock — goods
  3. kid — to tease
  4. stock — shares
  5. file — a document
  6. ground — the earth
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. kid — child
  9. ground — crushed
  10. bark — to shout
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. fork — in a road
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. ground — a position
  16. season — of the year
  17. file — a tool
  18. content — happy
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. file — a line of people
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. content — the amount
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. content — videos and posts

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