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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: scale · snap · bat · chest · temple · stock · kid · pound

  1. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  10. When was this ________________ built?
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  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. snap — to snap out of it
  2. bat — the animal
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. pound — for dogs
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. kid — to tease
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. temple — side of the head
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. scale — size or range
  12. stock — shares
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. stock — goods
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. scale — in music
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. kid — child
  20. chest — a box
  21. chest — of your body
  22. pound — a weight
  23. chest — of your body
  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