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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: field · bark · lash · wind · stock · mine · can · face

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. lash — to lash out
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. field — a subject
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. lash — a whip stroke
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. can — a tin
  10. face — part of the head
  11. wind — moving air
  12. can — a tin
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. stock — goods
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. field — for sport
  17. mine — for digging
  18. wind — moving air
  19. lash — an eyelash
  20. bark — to shout
  21. can — to be able to
  22. face — to confront
  23. stock — shares
  24. face — to point toward

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