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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 had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  8. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  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. kid — child
  2. staff — employees
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. last — finally
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. band — a ring
  7. staff — employees
  8. staff — a stick
  9. spell — letters
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. prune — to trim
  12. last — final
  13. snap — to click
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. band — a music group
  16. spell — magic
  17. kid — to tease
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. last — to go on
  21. spell — a short time
  22. prune — to trim
  23. stock — shares
  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