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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: wake · cell · pit · root · game · stock · bore · snap

  1. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  9. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  21. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  22. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. bore — gave birth
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. pit — a fruit stone
  5. cell — a phone
  6. snap — to click
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. root — of a plant
  9. bore — to drill
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. cell — in biology
  13. root — the cause
  14. game — wild animals
  15. pit — in a race
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. game — a match
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. stock — goods
  20. root — of a word
  21. bore — to tire
  22. pit — a hole
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. wake — a trail

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