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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 116 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: race · mug · firm · net · wound · cold · bark · stock

  1. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  5. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  17. Where did you ________________ them?
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  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. mug — a cup
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. firm — steady
  5. firm — decided
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. race — the arms race
  8. race — a contest
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. net — after costs
  11. net — for catching
  12. mug — a face
  13. net — in sport
  14. wound — an injury
  15. stock — goods
  16. firm — a company
  17. mug — to rob
  18. wound — an injury
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. cold — an illness
  21. stock — shares
  22. cold — not warm
  23. race — humankind
  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