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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: straw · stock · row · snap · hand · club · plane · pit

  1. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  11. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. The ________________ took off on time.
  14. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. pit — in a race
  3. hand — in cards
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. stock — shares
  6. pit — a fruit stone
  7. snap — to click
  8. row — a line
  9. row — to paddle
  10. plane — in geometry
  11. plane — a tool
  12. stock — goods
  13. plane — an aircraft
  14. club — a group
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. hand — help
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. pit — a hole
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. club — for dancing
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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