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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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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: rule · last · bark · field · perch · mine · bulb · stock

  1. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. The light ________________ burned out.
  13. I've got to change the light ________________.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. mine — for digging
  3. rule — to rule out
  4. stock — shares
  5. rule — government
  6. stock — goods
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. last — final
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. field — for sport
  11. bark — to shout
  12. bulb — for light
  13. bulb — for light
  14. field — farmland
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. rule — a law
  18. field — a subject
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. last — to go on
  21. last — finally
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. bulb — of a plant

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