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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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  20. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. squash — to crush
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. face — to confront
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. stock — shares
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. stock — goods
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. current — electric
  13. bat — the animal
  14. current — of water
  15. face — to point toward
  16. stem — to come from
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. snap — to click
  19. squash — the sport
  20. current — happening now
  21. face — part of the head
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. pound — a weight
  24. bat — for baseball

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