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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: rest · shower · sharp · stock · rule · rash · snap · bat

  1. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  23. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. sharp — clever
  4. rash — a series
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. rest — a break
  7. rest — what's left
  8. shower — to wash
  9. rule — a law
  10. stock — goods
  11. snap — to click
  12. shower — rain
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. rule — to rule out
  16. rash — hasty
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. rash — on the skin
  19. stock — shares
  20. bat — the animal
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. rule — government
  23. rest — what's left
  24. sharp — with an edge

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