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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: march · key · snap · kid · band · bark · stock · wave

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. This piece is in a major ________________.
  11. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  18. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. kid — to tease
  3. march — the month
  4. key — the most important part
  5. band — a ring
  6. stock — goods
  7. march — music
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. key — in music
  11. key — for a lock
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. band — a music group
  14. wave — with your hand
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. snap — to click
  17. wave — of the sea
  18. wave — a sudden rise
  19. stock — shares
  20. march — the month
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. bark — to shout

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