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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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. That must've been a ________________.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  9. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  10. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. Have you settled on a ________________?
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  20. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. 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. snap — to speak sharply
  2. rush — a thrill
  3. stock — goods
  4. mate — a partner
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. rush — to hurry
  7. degree — an amount
  8. date — the fruit
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. mate — a friend
  11. stock — shares
  12. land — to come down
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. snap — to click
  15. degree — from a university
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. land — a country
  18. land — ground
  19. rush — hurry
  20. mate — to breed
  21. pop — to visit
  22. pop — soda
  23. degree — temperature
  24. 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