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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: tear · stock · fall · branch · bark · cell · squash · mine

  1. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. tear — from crying
  3. cell — a phone
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. tear — to rip
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. fall — the season
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. branch — a division
  10. stock — shares
  11. cell — in biology
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. fall — to drop
  14. bark — to shout
  15. squash — the sport
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. tear — from crying
  21. squash — to crush
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. stock — goods
  24. mine — for digging

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