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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: kid · season · stock · last · fall · racket · snap · bark

  1. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. fall — to drop
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. stock — shares
  7. season — of the year
  8. snap — to click
  9. kid — to tease
  10. season — in sport
  11. last — to go on
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. bark — to shout
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. fall — to drop
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. fall — the season
  19. stock — goods
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. last — final
  24. kid — child

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