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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: stock · land · bark · spring · field · wax · lash · staff

  1. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  16. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. land — to come down
  3. staff — employees
  4. wax — to grow
  5. lash — to lash out
  6. land — ground
  7. staff — employees
  8. field — for sport
  9. field — a subject
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. stock — goods
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. stock — shares
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. lash — a whip stroke
  16. staff — a stick
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. lash — an eyelash
  20. field — farmland
  21. bark — to shout
  22. spring — the season
  23. land — a country
  24. spring — a coil

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