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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 · stock · squash · season · march · mouse · wind · coach

  1. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  10. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. Have you met the new head ________________?
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. mouse — for a computer
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. stock — goods
  6. march — the month
  7. march — music
  8. squash — the sport
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. season — of the year
  12. march — the month
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. squash — to crush
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. bark — to shout
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. wind — moving air
  20. season — in sport
  21. stock — shares
  22. wind — moving air
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. wind — to turn a key

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