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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: club · stock · land · prune · march · snap · kick · date

  1. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. Have you settled on a ________________?
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. kick — in football
  4. land — ground
  5. club — a group
  6. land — to come down
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. march — the month
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. march — music
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. prune — to trim
  13. club — for dancing
  14. march — the month
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. club — for golf
  17. stock — shares
  18. prune — to trim
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. stock — goods
  21. land — a country
  22. snap — to click
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. date — 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