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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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468
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: bore · spring · stock · bark · bulb · game · wound · arm

  1. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. I've got to change the light ________________.
  3. My father caught me by the ________________.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. The light ________________ burned out.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  20. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. bulb — for light
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. game — a match
  5. bark — to shout
  6. stock — shares
  7. bore — to tire
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. game — wild animals
  11. bulb — for light
  12. wound — an injury
  13. bulb — of a plant
  14. spring — a coil
  15. spring — the season
  16. stock — goods
  17. arm — a part of something
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. bore — to drill
  21. spring — of water
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. bore — gave birth
  24. wound — an injury

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