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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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Word bank
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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: mine · straw · wave · ground · snap · stock · ball · branch

  1. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. The King held a masked ________________.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. stock — shares
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. wave — of the sea
  5. ground — crushed
  6. ball — a great time
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. ground — a position
  12. wave — with your hand
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. mine — for digging
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. wave — a sudden rise
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. ball — a dance
  20. ground — the earth
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. snap — to click
  23. stock — goods
  24. branch — a division

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