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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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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. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — the animal
  2. capital — money
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. pop — music
  7. snap — to click
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. band — a ring
  10. pop — to visit
  11. pop — soda
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. band — a music group
  15. mine — for digging
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. capital — a city
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. stock — shares
  21. mouse — for a computer
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. sharp — clever
  24. stock — goods

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