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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.

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: degree · season · rest · mine · club · snap · pop · stock

  1. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  14. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  15. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. season — of the year
  4. club — for dancing
  5. snap — to click
  6. stock — shares
  7. degree — temperature
  8. season — in sport
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. pop — soda
  12. mine — for digging
  13. rest — what's left
  14. pop — music
  15. rest — a break
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. degree — from a university
  18. club — a group
  19. rest — what's left
  20. degree — an amount
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. stock — goods
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. club — for golf

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