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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 116 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: snap · row · rest · degree · race · stem · game · stock

  1. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. race — a contest
  3. race — the arms race
  4. snap — to click
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. game — a match
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. stem — to come from
  9. degree — from a university
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. game — wild animals
  12. race — humankind
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. row — a line
  15. rest — what's left
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. degree — an amount
  18. rest — what's left
  19. degree — temperature
  20. stock — goods
  21. stock — shares
  22. row — to paddle
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. stock — a soup base

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