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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 116 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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  14. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. snap — to click
  3. stock — goods
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. object — an aim
  7. stock — shares
  8. pop — to visit
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. row — a line
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. object — a thing
  14. object — to protest
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. row — to paddle
  18. pop — music

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