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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: patient · date · can · stock · snap · stick · last · kid

  1. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  11. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.

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

Answer key

  1. can — to be able to
  2. kid — to tease
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. snap — to click
  6. last — finally
  7. kid — child
  8. date — the fruit
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. can — a tin
  12. stock — shares
  13. stick — a piece of wood
  14. stock — goods
  15. stick — to attach or keep to
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. can — a tin
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. last — to go on
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. last — final
  24. patient — calm and waiting

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