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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 like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  24. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. stock — goods
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. spring — a coil
  5. kid — child
  6. spring — of water
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. spring — the season
  9. fall — to drop
  10. cell — a phone
  11. cell — in biology
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. bore — gave birth
  14. kid — to tease
  15. snap — to click
  16. bore — to drill
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. fall — the season
  20. bore — to tire
  21. stock — shares
  22. toast — a drink to someone
  23. fall — to drop
  24. toast — the most admired

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