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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. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  3. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. We're on a ________________ here.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  24. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. branch — of a bank
  3. roll — a cake
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. perch — the fish
  8. file — a tool
  9. file — a document
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. stock — shares
  12. branch — a division
  13. roll — on a roll
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. roll — a list
  16. file — a line of people
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. snap — to click
  20. kick — with a leg
  21. wake — a trail
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. kick — in football
  24. kick — a thrill

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