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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: snap · current · mine · stock · last · content · race · game

  1. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.

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

Answer key

  1. current — happening now
  2. last — final
  3. race — humankind
  4. race — a contest
  5. stock — goods
  6. game — wild animals
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. last — to go on
  9. game — a match
  10. mine — for digging
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. content — happy
  13. content — the amount
  14. current — electric
  15. race — the arms race
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. last — finally
  19. stock — shares
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. current — of water
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. snap — to click

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