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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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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: rock · cold · hide · snap · hand · stick · fine · spring

  1. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  4. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  5. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  15. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. hand — in cards
  3. fine — all right
  4. fine — high quality
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. fine — a penalty
  8. snap — to click
  9. rock — to move gently
  10. spring — the season
  11. stick — to attach or keep to
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. cold — an illness
  14. hide — animal skin
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. spring — of water
  17. cold — not warm
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. rock — a stone
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. hand — help
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. spring — a coil

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