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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 ________________ market has crashed.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  23. Where did you ________________ them?
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. mug — a face
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. prune — to trim
  6. tear — from crying
  7. snap — to click
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. wound — an injury
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. shower — to wash
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. shower — rain
  14. tear — from crying
  15. tear — to rip
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. wound — an injury
  18. prune — to trim
  19. stock — goods
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. branch — a division
  22. mug — a cup
  23. mug — to rob
  24. stock — a soup base

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