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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: stock · straw · capital · wind · prune · snap

  1. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. capital — money
  6. prune — to trim
  7. stock — goods
  8. snap — to click
  9. wind — moving air
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. prune — to trim
  13. stock — shares
  14. capital — a city
  15. wind — moving air
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. prune — the fruit

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