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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: shower · stock · swing · game · content · root · bank · bark

  1. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  19. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. stock — goods
  4. bank — of a river
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. shower — to wash
  7. bank — for money
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. stock — shares
  10. swing — music
  11. bank — for money
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. root — of a plant
  16. content — happy
  17. bark — to shout
  18. root — of a word
  19. root — the cause
  20. swing — in golf
  21. shower — rain
  22. swing — to play on
  23. game — a match
  24. content — the amount

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