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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: bark · date · land · race · key · stock · spring · tube

  1. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. Have you settled on a ________________?
  17. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  18. This piece is in a major ________________.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. spring — of water
  3. land — to come down
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. spring — a coil
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. tube — the underground
  8. land — a country
  9. stock — shares
  10. land — ground
  11. tube — a container
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. race — humankind
  14. spring — the season
  15. race — the arms race
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. key — for a lock
  18. key — in music
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. race — a contest
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. stock — goods
  23. date — the fruit
  24. bark — to shout

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