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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: sharp · snap · bass · stock · chest · row · scale · mine

  1. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. stock — shares
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. scale — size or range
  7. bass — low music
  8. mine — for digging
  9. chest — of your body
  10. scale — in music
  11. stock — goods
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. row — a line
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. bass — the fish
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. sharp — clever
  20. chest — a box
  21. snap — to click
  22. row — to paddle
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. chest — of your body

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