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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. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. race — a contest
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. pound — a weight
  5. bat — the animal
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. kid — to tease
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. stock — goods
  12. race — humankind
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. snap — to click
  15. foot — the bottom
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. stem — to come from
  20. foot — a measure
  21. kid — child
  22. race — the arms race
  23. foot — part of the body
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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