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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: bat · shower · season · stock · mate · straw · content · bear

  1. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  2. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. Have you found your soul ________________?
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — in sport
  2. mate — a friend
  3. shower — to wash
  4. bear — the animal
  5. mate — to breed
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. season — of the year
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. stock — shares
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. content — happy
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. bear — to put up with
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. bat — the animal
  19. bear — the animal
  20. stock — goods
  21. shower — rain
  22. mate — a partner
  23. content — the amount
  24. straw — dry grass

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