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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: bark · face · capital · stock · bat · ruler · sharp · race

  1. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. race — humankind
  2. capital — money
  3. face — to confront
  4. stock — shares
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. ruler — for measuring
  7. bat — the animal
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. ruler — for measuring
  13. bark — to shout
  14. ruler — a monarch
  15. face — part of the head
  16. face — to point toward
  17. stock — goods
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. capital — a city
  22. race — a contest
  23. sharp — clever
  24. race — the arms race

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