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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: pit · stock · bark · field · root · net · dip · trunk

  1. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  10. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. net — after costs
  3. stock — goods
  4. pit — a hole
  5. net — for catching
  6. dip — to dunk
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. field — a subject
  9. root — of a word
  10. dip — a sauce
  11. field — farmland
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. bark — to shout
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. root — of a plant
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. field — for sport
  18. pit — in a race
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. dip — to sink
  21. net — in sport
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. root — the cause
  24. stock — shares

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