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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: bark · capital · squash · stem · stock · content · firm · roll

  1. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. We're on a ________________ here.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. stock — shares
  3. firm — decided
  4. bark — to shout
  5. roll — on a roll
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. firm — steady
  8. capital — money
  9. stock — goods
  10. stem — to come from
  11. squash — to crush
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. content — the amount
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. firm — a company
  16. content — happy
  17. roll — a cake
  18. squash — the sport
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. roll — a list
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. capital — a city

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