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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: wave · race · row · stock · kid · snap · club · hand

  1. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  6. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  15. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. race — humankind
  5. wave — a sudden rise
  6. club — for golf
  7. stock — goods
  8. row — to paddle
  9. race — a contest
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. snap — to click
  12. club — for dancing
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. club — a group
  15. wave — of the sea
  16. kid — child
  17. stock — shares
  18. race — the arms race
  19. hand — help
  20. wave — with your hand
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. hand — in cards
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. kid — to tease

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