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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 120 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. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. stock — shares
  3. wind — moving air
  4. kid — to tease
  5. degree — temperature
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. band — a music group
  11. prune — to trim
  12. stock — goods
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. degree — from a university
  17. rule — a law
  18. prune — to trim
  19. degree — an amount
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. rule — government
  22. wind — moving air
  23. snap — to click
  24. band — a ring

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