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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 120 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: stick · degree · wave · land · snap · shower · file · stock

  1. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  16. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  21. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a document
  2. degree — temperature
  3. wave — of the sea
  4. snap — to click
  5. land — to come down
  6. land — ground
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. degree — an amount
  10. shower — rain
  11. stock — goods
  12. wave — with your hand
  13. file — a tool
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. wave — a sudden rise
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. land — a country
  18. shower — to wash
  19. file — a line of people
  20. stick — to attach or keep to
  21. stick — a piece of wood
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. stock — shares
  24. degree — from a university

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