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

Word bank: snap · rule · squash · arm · tube · rock · stock · cold

  1. I'll be taking the ________________.
  2. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. My father caught me by the ________________.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  22. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. rule — a law
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. stock — goods
  5. cold — an illness
  6. rock — a stone
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. squash — the sport
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. rock — music
  14. cold — not warm
  15. snap — to click
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. squash — to crush
  18. arm — a part of something
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. rock — to move gently
  22. rule — government
  23. tube — a container
  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