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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: hand · cold · lie · snap · tear · bowl · bark · stock

  1. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  15. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. stock — goods
  3. tear — from crying
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. snap — to click
  7. cold — an illness
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. cold — not warm
  10. bowl — a football final
  11. bark — to shout
  12. hand — help
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. lie — to recline
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. bowl — to roll
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. tear — to rip
  21. bowl — a dish
  22. hand — in cards
  23. stock — shares
  24. stock — a soup base

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