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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: capital · straw · bark · chest · lean · sharp · stock · perch

  1. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. capital — a city
  4. sharp — clever
  5. stock — shares
  6. perch — the fish
  7. chest — a box
  8. lean — thin
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. bark — to shout
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. lean — to rest against
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. chest — of your body
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. capital — money
  20. lean — to bend
  21. stock — goods
  22. chest — of your body
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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