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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: kid · bear · scale · season · bark · stock · cold · kick

  1. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  10. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  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. stock — a soup base
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. stock — goods
  4. kid — to tease
  5. bark — to shout
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. season — in sport
  9. bear — the animal
  10. bear — to put up with
  11. cold — not warm
  12. kick — a thrill
  13. season — of the year
  14. stock — shares
  15. kid — child
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. scale — in music
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. bear — the animal
  22. scale — size or range
  23. kick — in football
  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