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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. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  11. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. ground — crushed
  3. ground — a position
  4. snap — to click
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. spell — magic
  7. spell — letters
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. current — of water
  11. lean — thin
  12. band — a ring
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. current — happening now
  15. spell — a short time
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. ground — the earth
  18. band — a music group
  19. bat — the animal
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. current — electric
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. stock — goods
  24. stock — shares

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