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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: stock · drill · kid · last · calf · bark · spell · mark

  1. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  14. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. last — final
  3. drill — a practice
  4. spell — letters
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. stock — shares
  8. kid — child
  9. mark — a trace
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. stock — goods
  12. bark — to shout
  13. mark — a grade
  14. calf — of the leg
  15. spell — a short time
  16. last — to go on
  17. mark — to pay attention
  18. last — finally
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. drill — the tool
  22. drill — army training
  23. kid — to tease
  24. calf — a young animal

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