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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: date · pit · wax · fall · prune · capital · bark · stock

  1. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. Have you settled on a ________________?
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  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. bark — a dog's sound
  2. fall — to drop
  3. capital — money
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. wax — to grow
  6. pit — in a race
  7. stock — shares
  8. prune — to trim
  9. bark — to shout
  10. fall — the season
  11. pit — a fruit stone
  12. prune — to trim
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. capital — a city
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. date — the fruit
  21. fall — to drop
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. pit — a hole
  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