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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 · key · straw · band · kid · game · bear · stock

  1. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. This piece is in a major ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  17. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  18. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. game — a match
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. band — a music group
  5. key — in music
  6. kid — to tease
  7. key — for a lock
  8. kid — child
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. stock — shares
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. stock — goods
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. game — wild animals
  15. snap — to click
  16. key — the most important part
  17. bear — to put up with
  18. bear — the animal
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. bear — the animal
  22. band — a ring
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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