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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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  3. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. board — a committee
  3. board — to get on
  4. stock — shares
  5. ground — crushed
  6. snap — to click
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. last — final
  11. board — a flat piece
  12. stock — goods
  13. last — to go on
  14. ground — the earth
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. ground — a position
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. stem — to come from
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. wind — moving air
  22. wind — moving air
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. last — finally

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