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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  11. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  12. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. When was this ________________ built?
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. wave — a sudden rise
  3. perch — the fish
  4. shower — rain
  5. saw — the tool
  6. rule — government
  7. rule — a law
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. cold — an illness
  10. wave — with your hand
  11. temple — side of the head
  12. wave — of the sea
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. stock — goods
  15. cold — not warm
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. saw — the tool
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. temple — a place of worship
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. shower — to wash

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