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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: stock · last · vault · dip · hand · kid · bark · snap

  1. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  20. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. kid — to tease
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. dip — to sink
  8. bark — to shout
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. last — finally
  11. snap — to click
  12. last — final
  13. vault — in gymnastics
  14. hand — help
  15. dip — a sauce
  16. stock — shares
  17. vault — a safe
  18. stock — goods
  19. dip — to dunk
  20. vault — an arched ceiling
  21. hand — in cards
  22. kid — child
  23. last — to go on
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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