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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 · tear · straw · stock · bark · hide · club · spring

  1. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  7. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  8. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  12. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. club — a group
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. spring — of water
  6. bowl — a dish
  7. club — for dancing
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. stock — goods
  11. hide — animal skin
  12. club — for golf
  13. tear — from crying
  14. bowl — a football final
  15. tear — to rip
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. bowl — to roll
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. tear — from crying
  21. spring — the season
  22. bark — to shout
  23. spring — a coil
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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