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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: fall · bark · tear · lean · swing · row · court · stock

  1. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. swing — music
  3. swing — to play on
  4. stock — shares
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. fall — to drop
  7. court — of law
  8. swing — in golf
  9. bark — to shout
  10. court — for sport
  11. row — to paddle
  12. row — a line
  13. tear — from crying
  14. court — of a king
  15. lean — thin
  16. tear — from crying
  17. stock — goods
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. fall — to drop
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. fall — the season
  22. lean — to rest against
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. tear — to rip

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