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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 120 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: bark · pit · stock · mark · wound · cold · rest · bear

  1. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  2. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  5. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  6. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  7. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  8. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  9. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — in a race
  2. rest — what's left
  3. cold — an illness
  4. mark — a trace
  5. bear — the animal
  6. mark — a grade
  7. mark — to pay attention
  8. rest — a break
  9. rest — what's left
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. bear — to put up with
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. pit — a hole
  15. bark — to shout
  16. pit — a fruit stone
  17. stock — shares
  18. stock — goods
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. wound — an injury
  21. bear — the animal
  22. cold — not warm
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. wound — an injury

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