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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: stock · rash · spell · bark · kick · pitch · chest · cold

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. chest — a box
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. kick — in football
  8. cold — an illness
  9. stock — shares
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. rash — hasty
  13. spell — magic
  14. pitch — completely
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. spell — letters
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. spell — a short time
  20. chest — of your body
  21. bark — to shout
  22. rash — a series
  23. chest — of your body
  24. stock — goods

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