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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: ground · stock · march · mate · hide · saw · row · bark

  1. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. bark — to shout
  3. march — the month
  4. march — music
  5. hide — animal skin
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. row — a line
  9. saw — the tool
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. mate — a partner
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. stock — shares
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. mate — to breed
  16. ground — a position
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. mate — a friend
  19. stock — goods
  20. march — the month
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. row — to paddle
  23. saw — the tool
  24. ground — the earth

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