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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: mouse · club · drill · bark · land · stock · content · spring

  1. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. land — ground
  3. drill — a practice
  4. land — to come down
  5. drill — the tool
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. spring — the season
  8. club — a group
  9. bark — to shout
  10. spring — of water
  11. club — for golf
  12. spring — a coil
  13. mouse — the animal
  14. drill — army training
  15. stock — goods
  16. stock — shares
  17. mouse — for a computer
  18. land — a country
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. stock — a soup base
  21. content — the amount
  22. content — happy
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. content — videos and posts

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