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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: sharp · trunk · shower · bark · rush · object · race · stock

  1. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  9. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  10. That must've been a ________________.
  11. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. stock — goods
  3. race — a contest
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. sharp — clever
  7. shower — to wash
  8. rush — hurry
  9. object — an aim
  10. rush — a thrill
  11. object — a thing
  12. stock — shares
  13. race — humankind
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. object — to protest
  19. race — the arms race
  20. shower — rain
  21. bark — to shout
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. bark — of a tree

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