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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: roll · rock · snap · clip · chair · net · stock · chest

  1. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  10. We're on a ________________ here.
  11. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. chest — of your body
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. stock — goods
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. snap — to click
  7. roll — a list
  8. clip — for paper
  9. rock — to move gently
  10. roll — on a roll
  11. roll — a cake
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. rock — a stone
  14. chair — a leader
  15. net — for catching
  16. chest — a box
  17. clip — a video
  18. net — in sport
  19. stock — shares
  20. clip — to cut
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. chest — of your body
  24. net — after costs

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