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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. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. land — a country
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. snap — to click
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. spring — a coil
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. pound — a weight
  11. spring — the season
  12. land — to come down
  13. stock — goods
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. land — ground
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. stock — shares
  18. spring — of water

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