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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: cold · bulb · pop · bark · tube · spring · bore · stock

  1. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  2. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The light ________________ burned out.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  18. I've got to change the light ________________.
  19. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. We're almost out of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — music
  2. bulb — of a plant
  3. spring — the season
  4. cold — an illness
  5. bulb — for light
  6. stock — goods
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. tube — a container
  11. tube — the underground
  12. spring — a coil
  13. stock — shares
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. bore — gave birth
  16. spring — of water
  17. bore — to tire
  18. bulb — for light
  19. bore — to drill
  20. cold — not warm
  21. pop — to visit
  22. bark — to shout
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. pop — soda

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