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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: snap · deal · stock · cold · dip · degree · face · prune

  1. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  4. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  11. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. face — to confront
  3. dip — to dunk
  4. deal — a big deal
  5. prune — to trim
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. stock — goods
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. prune — to trim
  10. dip — to sink
  11. deal — an agreement
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. stock — shares
  14. face — to point toward
  15. degree — an amount
  16. cold — an illness
  17. snap — to click
  18. cold — not warm
  19. degree — from a university
  20. dip — a sauce
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. degree — temperature
  23. face — part of the head
  24. deal — to handle

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