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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: cold · wave · bore · stock · chair · tear

  1. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  16. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. wave — a sudden rise
  2. tear — from crying
  3. cold — not warm
  4. stock — shares
  5. bore — to tire
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. stock — goods
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. bore — gave birth
  10. chair — a leader
  11. cold — an illness
  12. wave — with your hand
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. tear — to rip
  15. bore — to drill
  16. wave — of the sea
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. tear — from crying

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