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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: swing · lash · lie · chest · stock · capital · bark · bat

  1. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  11. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. lie — an untruth
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. capital — money
  6. stock — goods
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. lie — to recline
  9. bark — to shout
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. lash — an eyelash
  12. stock — shares
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. chest — of your body
  15. capital — a city
  16. swing — in golf
  17. lash — to lash out
  18. swing — music
  19. lash — a whip stroke
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. bat — the animal
  22. chest — of your body
  23. swing — to play on
  24. chest — a box

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