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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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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: drill · snap · pop · land · stock · rash · mark · cold

  1. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  2. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. We're almost out of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — music
  2. mark — a trace
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. drill — the tool
  5. land — to come down
  6. drill — army training
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. drill — a practice
  10. mark — a grade
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. cold — an illness
  13. rash — hasty
  14. land — ground
  15. mark — to pay attention
  16. cold — not warm
  17. land — a country
  18. pop — to visit
  19. snap — to click
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. stock — goods
  22. stock — shares
  23. rash — a series
  24. pop — soda

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