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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: stock · bark · present · saw · jam · court · race · spring

  1. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. jam — to spread on bread
  2. present — a gift
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. spring — of water
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. jam — in traffic
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. race — humankind
  10. jam — a tight spot
  11. court — for sport
  12. court — of law
  13. race — the arms race
  14. present — the time now
  15. spring — a coil
  16. saw — the tool
  17. race — a contest
  18. stock — shares
  19. saw — the tool
  20. stock — goods
  21. court — of a king
  22. spring — the season
  23. present — there
  24. bark — to shout

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