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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 116 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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. That must've been a ________________.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  19. Don't do anything ________________.
  20. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. rush — a thrill
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. hand — help
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. can — to be able to
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. can — a tin
  9. stock — goods
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. snap — to click
  12. hand — in cards
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. drill — army training
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. bark — to shout
  18. rush — hurry
  19. rash — hasty
  20. can — a tin
  21. rash — a series
  22. drill — the tool
  23. stock — shares
  24. drill — a practice

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