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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: toast · bark · stock · cold · kick · branch · last · club

  1. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. club — for golf
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. last — to go on
  5. toast — the most admired
  6. bark — to shout
  7. branch — a division
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. toast — a drink to someone
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. cold — not warm
  13. last — final
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. club — for dancing
  16. cold — an illness
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. kick — in football
  19. last — finally
  20. stock — goods
  21. club — a group
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. stock — shares

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