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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  11. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. The King held a masked ________________.
  17. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. prune — to trim
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. prune — to trim
  5. pound — a weight
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. stock — goods
  10. pound — for dogs
  11. ball — a round shape
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. hand — help
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. ball — a dance
  17. ball — a great time
  18. stock — shares
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. hand — in cards
  21. calf — of the leg
  22. sharp — clever
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. calf — a young animal

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