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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: bowl · mark · game · stock · bark · rash · shower · mine

  1. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  5. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. Don't do anything ________________.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. rash — a series
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. mark — to pay attention
  5. mark — a grade
  6. stock — goods
  7. game — wild animals
  8. bowl — a dish
  9. shower — to wash
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. bark — to shout
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. stock — shares
  17. rash — hasty
  18. game — a match
  19. shower — rain
  20. bowl — a football final
  21. mine — for digging
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. mark — a trace
  24. bark — of a tree

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