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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
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: hand · stick · file · snap · stock · rash · perch · roll

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  19. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  23. We're on a ________________ here.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. snap — to click
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. stock — shares
  7. perch — the fish
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. hand — in cards
  10. rash — a series
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. roll — a cake
  14. stock — goods
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. file — a document
  18. roll — a list
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. rash — hasty
  21. file — a tool
  22. stick — to attach or keep to
  23. roll — on a roll
  24. file — a line of people

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