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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: stock · bass · march · spring · ruler · bark · nail · land

  1. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  19. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. The ________________ went through the wall.
  24. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. stock — goods
  3. march — the month
  4. march — music
  5. bark — to shout
  6. land — a country
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. land — ground
  9. stock — shares
  10. ruler — for measuring
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. land — to come down
  14. spring — of water
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. spring — a coil
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. ruler — for measuring
  19. bass — low music
  20. spring — the season
  21. ruler — a monarch
  22. bass — the fish
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. nail — on a finger

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