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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: stand · branch · shower · stock · snap · bat · mate · rest

  1. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. I can't ________________ this cold.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  11. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. stock — goods
  3. stand — to bear
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. mate — a partner
  6. branch — a division
  7. shower — to wash
  8. rest — what's left
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. mate — a friend
  11. rest — what's left
  12. mate — to breed
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. stand — for spectators
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. stand — on your feet
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. bat — the animal
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. shower — rain
  22. rest — a break
  23. stock — shares
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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