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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 116 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: bark · stock · wound · press · degree · tear · land · branch

  1. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. Did you ________________ the button?
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. wound — an injury
  4. tear — from crying
  5. branch — a division
  6. press — newspapers
  7. bark — to shout
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. press — to push
  10. land — ground
  11. degree — an amount
  12. tear — to rip
  13. wound — an injury
  14. stock — shares
  15. land — to come down
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. degree — temperature
  19. land — a country
  20. degree — from a university
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. press — a publisher
  24. tear — from crying

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