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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 120 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: bulb · cold · leaves · calf · pitcher · stock · bark · field

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  16. I've got to change the light ________________.
  17. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  18. The light ________________ burned out.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  22. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. stock — shares
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. field — a subject
  5. leaves — to go away
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. leaves — of a tree
  8. cold — not warm
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. bark — to shout
  11. field — farmland
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. field — for sport
  15. calf — of the leg
  16. bulb — for light
  17. bulb — of a plant
  18. bulb — for light
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. leaves — lets stay
  23. stock — goods
  24. cold — an illness

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