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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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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: wave · kid · wind · stock · bear · bark · file · court

  1. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  15. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  18. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. stock — shares
  4. court — of a king
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. file — a line of people
  7. file — a document
  8. bear — to put up with
  9. wind — moving air
  10. bark — to shout
  11. kid — child
  12. wind — moving air
  13. court — of law
  14. bear — the animal
  15. wave — a sudden rise
  16. stock — goods
  17. bear — the animal
  18. wave — of the sea
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. kid — to tease
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. file — a tool
  23. wave — with your hand
  24. court — for sport

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