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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: suit · spring · snap · wind · stick · degree · bat · stock

  1. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  15. When will it ________________ you to start?
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. suit — clothes
  4. wind — moving air
  5. degree — from a university
  6. stick — to attach or keep to
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. suit — in cards
  9. wind — moving air
  10. degree — an amount
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. bat — the animal
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. suit — to fit
  16. stock — goods
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. spring — of water
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. spring — a coil
  22. degree — temperature
  23. spring — the season
  24. stock — shares

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