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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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  21. We're almost out of ________________.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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. snap — to speak sharply
  3. stock — goods
  4. band — a music group
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. face — to confront
  9. face — part of the head
  10. face — to point toward
  11. chair — a leader
  12. pop — to visit
  13. pop — music
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. snap — to click
  17. band — a ring
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. mine — for digging
  20. stem — to come from
  21. pop — soda
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. stock — shares
  24. chair — to sit on

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